Issue - meetings

That the following documents be noted:

·         WAO Audit of Financial Statements Report Addendum - Recommendations

·         Council’s Action Plan

·         WAO Annual Audit Letter

·         WAO Annual Audit Letter

The Finance Manager introduced the addendum to the Wales Audit Office (WAO) Audit of Financial Statements which had been considered in September 2015 as part of the Statement of Accounts.  The addendum report set out the recommendations of the WAO and was accompanied by the Council’s action plan on how these issues would be addressed.  Good progress had been made in implementing the action plan, as shared with the Chair and Vice-Chair, and the remaining work would be closely monitored.  Attention was also drawn to the WAO Annual Audit Letter summarising the key messages from the Auditor General for Wales’ statutory responsibilities.

Mr. John Herniman reported that all recommendations had been accepted and were being progressed and that no significant issues were highlighted in the Annual Audit Letter which summarised areas raised during work on the accounts.  The report on grant claims was in the process of being compiled and would be brought to the Committee in due course.

The Chief Executive referred to his involvement in the establishment of a working group to monitor progress on the action plan and commented on the excellent relationship between the Council and WAO.

Mr. Paul Williams thanked the officer team for their work and welcomed the progress made so far.

Councillor Arnold Woolley welcomed the report but highlighted reference to errors arising from a change in preparing the Consolidated Income and Expenditure Statement (CIES) on page 2 of the Audit Letter.  The Chief Executive clarified that all three issues listed had been addressed, partly as set out in the Payroll update, as well as changes to the accounting process with the Chief Officer team which had proved successful.

When asked by Councillor Alison Halford for her view on the level of resources, the Finance Manager said that she was satisfied with the resources in place to implement the actions.  In addition, there was a mechanism through the working group to flag up issues at an earlier stage to prevent delays in producing the accounts within the statutory deadline.  The Finance Manager also highlighted the vacant post of Technical Accountant as a contributing factor to some of the issues and introduced Tom Williamson who had been appointed in this role.

RESOLVED:

That the following documents be noted:

·         WAO Audit of Financial Statements Report Addendum - Recommendations

·         Council’s Action Plan

·         WAO Annual Audit Letter

·         WAO Annual Audit Letter