Issue - meetings

(a)       That the draft Statement of Accounts 2014/15 (including the Annual Governance Statement), together with the underlying policies, be noted;

(b)       That the planned provision of ‘drop-in’ sessions over the summer period be noted.

The Corporate Finance Manager presented the Statement of Accounts 2014/15 (subject to audit) for Members’ information only at this stage.  To meet the statutory deadline, the accounts would be submitted to the Committee on 24 September for approval and recommendation to County Council on the same day, ready to be published on 30 September.  This was a corporate document owned by every Member and officer of the Council and was the result of significant work across the Authority, in particular the Technical Accounting team in Corporate Finance.

A presentation was made covering the main areas:

·         Purpose and Background

·         Key Dates

·         Responsibility

·         Contents and Overview

·         Links to Budget Monitoring

·         Headlines - Council Fund, Reserves at Year End, Capital and Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

·         Principal Statements

·         Changes

·         Progress on Action Plan

·         Next Steps

The Finance Manager provided explanation on changes to the accounts in respect of new guidance on accounting for schools and the Council-owned North East Wales (NEW) Homes.  Following national guidance on simplifying Local Authority accounts for the reader, a judgement had been taken that neither of the changes were material and therefore explanation had been set out in the accounts in disclosure Notes 39 and 30 respectively rather than the inclusion of a third balance sheet and a full set of group accounts.  All Members would be notified in writing of the drop-in session in September which provided an opportunity to raise any queries on the accounts with Finance officers prior to final approval at County Council.  An updated response was also given on actions taken to address the issues raised by Wales Audit Office (WAO) on the 2013/14 accounts following the action plan shared with the Committee earlier in the year.

Councillor Alison Halford referred to the increase in the precept for the North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner and felt that information should be shared with the public on use of these public funds.  The Chief Executive said that this detail was not included in the accounts as the Police & Crime Commissioner role was entirely funded by central government and not subsidised from the precept.  He advised that Mr. Roddick’s presentation at the County Council meeting the following week would include this type of information, and that Members would have an opportunity to raise further questions.

In response to a question on remuneration for Cabinet Members, the Chief Officer (Governance) advised that the annual report on the Schedule of Member Remuneration would be submitted to the next County Council meeting.  The Chief Executive gave a reminder that the model in Flintshire comprised eight Cabinet Members (out of a maximum of ten permitted) and was therefore more cost-effective than some other councils.

On usable reserves, Councillor Haydn Bateman queried the transfer-in figure for Single Status.  The Chief Executive said that the closing report on Single Status, as submitted to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee earlier in the week, would be forwarded to Committee members for information.  He advised that the remaining balance of reserves set aside would fund  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20