Issue - meetings

That the Committee notes the report and the reasons for deferring the approval of the Statement of Accounts 2021/22.

The Corporate Finance Manager presented a report to update the Committee on the current position with the Council’s Statement of Accounts for the 2021/22 financial year.

As reported in July, the draft accounts had been completed and submitted to Welsh Government (WG) within the deadline and the statutory deadline for publishing the final audited accounts had been extended to 30 November 2022.  Whilst audit work was now substantially complete, a national issue around the accounting of infrastructure assets had resulted in a risk that all local authority financial statements could be subject to qualified audit opinions in this area.  Finance officers and Audit Wales were of the view that an opinion could not be given on the accounts and that formal approval of the accounts should be deferred until the issue of infrastructure assets was resolved.

When asked by the Chair, the Corporate Finance Manager confirmed that the infrastructure assets issue was a presentational matter with no significant impact on the accounts.

In providing background, the Strategic Finance Manager advised that WG was currently developing a statutory override as a temporary solution and would be extending the statutory deadline for publishing the final accounts to the end of January 2023 following consultation.

These comments were echoed by Mike Whiteley of Audit Wales who confirmed ongoing engagement with Finance officers on the matter.  On progress with the audit of the accounts, he advised that there were no significant issues and that revised figures for asset valuations (discussed at previous meetings) had been appropriately reflected within the accounts.

In response to concerns raised by Allan Rainford, Mike Whiteley provided clarity on the approach to completing the audit in the event that the matter could not be resolved.  However, it was likely that a statutory override would be identified and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) was seeking an acceptable solution with minimal impact on local authorities.

On a query from Councillor Andrew Parkhurst, clarification was given on the definition of infrastructure assets within the accounts.

The recommendation was moved and seconded by Allan Rainford and Rev Brian Harvey.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the report and the reasons for deferring the approval of the Statement of Accounts 2021/22.