Agenda item

(a)       That the final version of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be approved;

(b)       That the Letter of Representation – Flintshire County Council; and the Letter of Representation – Clwyd Pension Fund, be approved; and

(c)       That the Supplementary Financial Information to the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be noted.

The Chief Executive introduced the report on the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 and the Supplementary Financial Information to the Statement of Accounts 2016/17.

The Corporate Finance Manager explained that the report sought formal approval of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 and the Annual Governance Statement, a copy of which had been included within the report and had been considered by the Audit Committee in June, 2017.  Also detailed within the report was the supplementary information to the accounts on the full time equivalent pay, as requested by Members at a previous meeting as a Notice of Motion to Council.

Matthew Edwards, Wales Audit Office, said that he was pleased to report that the reports were positive and following approval of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17, the Auditor General intended to offer an unqualified opinion on the financial statements which would confirm that the accounts offer a true and fair view in all material respects    and that they were prepared in accordance with CIPFA Code of Practice.  He also commented on the high quality of the statements as presented.

On the Pension Fund Accounts, they were not up to the high standard that had been shown previously but assurance had been given that arrangements have been put in place to address this in future.

Councillor Clive Carver said in September 2012 he queried payments made to consultants and senior officers. Since the Notice of Motion to Council this information had been included as a supplementary document.  This year it did not include the same amount of information and was now contained in the main report.  The Chief Executive explained that all of the information could be contained within one report and it was all presented.  The Corporate Finance Manager clarified that the information did not form part of the formal accounts but was provided for information to Members.

Councillor Mike Peers asked why the Landlord Services had an overspend of £66,000 and why the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) projects had a budget of 0 but £111,000 had been spent.  He also asked why there had been an increased spend to cover expenditure and asked what the monthly repayments were on the borrowing level which stood at £251m.  He commented on the appeared decrease on reserves and asked for further information on this and also asked how bad debts were being dealt with.  The Chief Executive suggested that as the questions did not affect the validity of the accounts that written responses could be provided if that was acceptable, to which Councillor Peers said it was.  It was confirmed that a copy of the response would be provided to all Members.   

Councillor Richard Jones commented on the outstanding loan of £860,000 from Welsh Government (WG) for regeneration initiatives in Deeside and asked how long the repayment terms was on this loan.  He also asked for further information on the net worth of the Council which had decreased £168M to £43M.  The Finance Manager, Strategy and Technical, responded that the repayment term on the loan was 15 years.  A written response on the net worth of the Council would be provided to all Members following the meeting.

Councillor Helen Brown reported that the Audit Committee had received a detailed presentation from officers on the statement of accounts which gave good progress and said that officers from Wales Audit Office had also attended the meeting to outline their findings.  Councillor Brown confirmed that the Committee had no issues to draw to the Council’s attention and outlined the recommendations from the Audit Committee.  

On being put to the vote, the recommendations were carried.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the final version of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be approved;

(b)       That the Letter of Representation – Flintshire County Council; and the Letter of Representation – Clwyd Pension Fund, be approved; and

(c)       That the Supplementary Financial Information to the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 be noted.