Issue - meetings

That the Annual Audit Letter to Members of the Council be noted.

Mr. John Herniman introduced the Annual Audit Letter from the Council’s Appointed Auditor, Wales Audit Office (WAO) which summarised the key findings from the (unqualified) audit opinion on the financial statements for 2013/14, in line with statutory requirements.

Mr. Herniman welcomed the good response from the Council to issues arising from the report, and in particular the achievement in significantly reducing the budget gap.  He referred to improvements made to the budget-setting process and delivery of savings, with a continuation of this pressure in future years.

Following a query from Councillor Glyn Banks on the recognition of liability for pension contributions on Equal Pay liabilities, the Finance Manager - Technical Accountancy explained that this had been a long-standing issue over the past few years on which the Council and WAO had reached agreement on their differing views.  Mr. Herniman explained that whilst some Councils had agreed with the legal advice obtained by WAO, some had not.  A view had been taken by the Appointed Auditor not to take further action but to accept that those Councils had acted in accordance with their own legal advice.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Audit Letter to Members of the Council be noted.