Issue - meetings

Members of the Committee heard from the Financial Services Manager, who presented the Audited Statement of Accounts for 2023-24. It was explained that the accounts had been fully audited and signed off by KPMG. The Manager recalled that the draft accounts had been presented and scrutinised by the Committee in June 2024, since then, KPMG had conducted their first audit of the Council's accounts under the new PSAA contract. It was explained that misstatements which had been found by the Auditors and outlined in their report, had since been corrected for the final version of the accounts. It was highlighted that the finance team had also identified some items during their due diligence of the draft statement, and these, along with some rounding errors and typos, had been corrected. The Manager explained that the accounts were audited within the statutory deadline and would be posted on the Council's website once signed. It was outlined that no events after the reporting period were declared, and no requests to inspect the accounts were received during the statutory period. The Manager continued, adding that that the deadline for preparing the 2024-25 accounts was now 30 June 2025, rather than 31 May 2025 as previously, and the external audit of the accounts was required by 27 February 2026. Questions on the financial statements were invited.

In response to a question from Members about the timing of the final sign-off with KPMG, the Manger confirmed that a draft timetable for completing the preparation of the 2024-25 accounts had been set, with the deadline now at the end of June 2025 rather than the end of May 2025. It was noted that group accounts would be required for the first time for the 2024-25 accounts, as the Council's sub-companies had crossed the reporting threshold. It was explained that the Council was now the full owner of Market Street Renewal Limited, and those accounts together with SureStaff Lincs Limited, and WLDC Staffing Services, would all be grouped together. The Manager highlighted that additional statements with group balances would be included in the statements. Arrangements with KPMG for the audit were being made, considering both KPMG's and internal staff's schedules to ensure that both sides would be able to fully engage with the undertaking in a timely fashion.

An issue was raised by a Member of the Committee regarding an organisational picture chart depicting the senior team in the report, which included a picture of a person without a description. The Financial Services Manager clarified that the person was the Head of Policy and Strategy and it was accepted that a small explanation would have been helpful.

A point of clarification was made by the Chairman regarding the diagram on page 129 of the report pack, which depicted Officers in post at the end of the accounting period (March 2024). The Chairman confirmed that the document was correct for the timing of the accounts, although changes would occur in the following year.

Concerns were expressed by the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116