Issue - meetings

That the Wales Audit Office report be noted.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the Wales Audit Office Audit Plan for 2020 which set out the arrangements and responsibilities for proposed audit work for the Council during the year.  Although the report had been issued in March, it had not been possible to present it to the Committee due to the emergency situation.

Mike Whiteley of Audit Wales (AW) advised that since issuing the report, a number of risks had been updated and communicated to the Council, a copy of which could be shared upon request.  Those on the financial audit related to the increased use of accounting estimates and greater focus on Council procedures for closure of the accounts, however no such issues had arisen.  Despite a delay to the planned date for the audit opinion on the accounts, it was confirmed that the statutory deadline would be met and that no issues had arisen from the audit that could compromise that.  The introduction of the new standard on IFRS16 Leases was no longer a risk as implementation had been deferred.  Work undertaken prior to that stage found that the Council had made good progress in presenting its findings.

In presenting the performance audit programme, Gwilym Bury said that the Auditor General had set out the approach to audit work during the emergency situation.  He described the Council’s engagement with AW during the period as ‘exemplar’ and praised the approach taken to dealing with the pandemic.  AW had recently issued a letter to the Council summarising the work undertaken during the period and its intention to progress other areas of audit work in the Plan as normal operations resumed.

In response to a question from Allan Rainford, Gwilym Bury advised that the aim was to complete all audit work in the Plan by April 2021 where possible, and that was no impact on fees.  He commended the Council for its engagement with AW and proactive approach during the year.

The Chief Executive thanked AW colleagues for their positive comments.

RESOLVED:

That the Wales Audit Office report be noted.