Issue - meetings
Wales Audit Office (WAO) – Annual Audit Letter 2017/18
Meeting: 15/02/2019 - Audit Committee (Item 46)
46 Wales Audit Office (WAO) – Annual Audit Letter 2017/18 PDF 69 KB
Additional documents:
Decision:
That the Wales Audit Office Annual Audit Letter for 2017/18 be noted.
Minutes:
The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the Annual Audit Letter issued by the Wales Audit Office (WAO) which set out the key messages arising from the 2017/18 audit, as required by the Auditor General for Wales.
Matthew Edwards of WAO confirmed that the Council had appropriate arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources and had met statutory requirements on continuous improvement. The outcome of work completed on the certification of grant claims and returns would be reported in March. The scale of the financial challenge was a common issue amongst authorities in Wales and demonstrated the need to maximise opportunities for income generation and alternative delivery models.
On the recognition of an ‘annual funding gap’, Councillor Peers sought views on the future position of the Council. Matthew Edwards spoke about planned work on financial sustainability across the public sector in Wales, with local findings to be reported back to the Committee once completed. There was regular communication with officers and the Audit Plan in March would provide more detail on the approach to be taken by WAO to assess the financial sustainability of the Council.
Following a question by Councillor Woolley, officers explained the difficulty in comparing performance on planned efficiencies by councils. Matthew Edwards agreed to share a link to recent reports issued by the WAO on the financial position of councils in Wales.
RESOLVED:
That the Wales Audit Office Annual Audit Letter for 2017/18 be noted.