Issue - meetings

Members considered an External Audit report on the quality of the Statement of Accounts and the Annual Governance Statement for 2019/2020.The report was introduced by Mark Dalton of Mazars, the Authority’s External Auditors.  The introduction contained the following highlights:

·         Subject to the completion of limited outstanding work, Mazars anticipated issuing a clean, unqualified opinion.  A good set of accounts and supporting working papers had been produced, with a positive outcome across all sectors;

·         There were national issues that impacted on the audit; firstly Covid-19 and the associated uncertainties, and the delays in auditor guidance and assurances;

·         In relation to work on financial statements, and given the material valuation uncertainty related to ‘property, plant and equipment’, auditors were likely to include an ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph in the report.  This would highlight the Authority’s disclosure of material uncertainty to a reader of the accounts.  This was not a modification to the audit opinion, but instead a ‘sector-wide’ issue;

·         Assurances were still required from the Lincolnshire Pensions Fund Auditor.  Until these have been received, the financial statement cannot be signed off.  These assurances were expected by the middle of October, which was consistent with the rest of the sector;

·         The assumptions in the McLeod case, a case of age discrimination which had been brought against public sector pension schemes did not represent a material difference in the audit as this case had already been accounted for, and was a national issue;

·         The Authority’s Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy had been discussed with WLDC management, along with the restatement of vired balances and pension’s legal cases.  The impact of these issues on the auditor’s work and fees had been discussed;

·         No controlled deficiencies had been identified, and only a very small number of misstatements;

·         A clean, unqualified conclusion had been arrived at for ‘value for money’, in relation to commercial and financial sustainability;

·         Appendix C of the agenda pack confirmed the independence and objectivity of the audit team – this was a standard letter of representation.

Following this introduction, Members had the opportunity to ask questions of the external audit.  Further information was provided:

·         This had been the first full year that Mazars had audited the accounts, and satisfaction was expressed that the process had gone well and the relationship between themselves and WLDC was running effectively and smoothly;

·         Mazars were content with the provisions put in place by WLDC in regard to Covid risks, as well as the financial stability of the Authority.  A General Fund working balance was held which mitigated risks in year, and this stood at £4.2 million at the end of March 2020.  The Government had supported WLDC through grant funding for expenditure incurred.  The current overall position was that WLDC can meet costs caused by Covid within the 2020/2021 financial year without the need to use reserves;

·         WLDC was not the only authority to depart from national guidance and retail a Valuation Volatility Reserve (VVR).  It was the opinion of the Section 151 Officer that this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30