Issue - meetings

(a)       That the draft Statement of Accounts 2022/23 (which includes the Annual Governance Statement) be noted; and

(b)       That Members note the opportunity to discuss any aspect of the draft Statement of Accounts with officers or Audit Wales during the audit period, prior to the final audited version being brought back to the Committee for final approval on 22 November 2023.

The Corporate Finance Manager presented the Draft Statement of Accounts 2022/23 (subject to audit) for information only at this stage.  These comprised the Group accounts and its wholly owned subsidiaries, along with the Annual Governance Statement which had been reviewed at the previous meeting.  The open consultation period during the Summer would provide an opportunity for Members to raise any aspect of the accounts with officers prior to the Committee receiving the final audited version for approval in November.

A presentation covered the following:

·         Purpose and Background of the Accounts

·         Contents and Overview

·         Responsibility for the Accounts

·         Links to Budget Monitoring

·         Changes to the Statement of Accounts for 2022/23

·         Key Issues and Impacts

·         Headlines - Council Fund (Revenue), Revenue Reserves, Significant Movements, Capital and Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

·         Accounts Governance Group

·         Timeline and Next Steps

It was confirmed that the draft accounts had been completed and submitted within the Welsh Government (WG) deadline which had been extended to take account of the appropriate accounting of asset valuations at a time of high inflation and the legacy impacts of the pandemic.  The deadline for submitting the final audited accounts had been extended to 30 November 2023.

The Chair recognised the challenges in producing the accounts and paid tribute to the work of the team.  On the narrative report, he referred to capital programme data on pages 3 and 5 and suggested that comparison of spend against budget would be helpful for the reader.

The Corporate Finance Manager explained that whilst the presentation of data was unchanged, he would incorporate an additional column in future statements to show variances across portfolios together with a clear definition to prescribed wording such as ‘inalienable assets’.

On rent arrears, the Corporate Finance Manager agreed to share explanation on the difference in the outturn shown in the narrative report (which did not include overpayments, pre-payments etc) as opposed to the amount on note 13 which reflected the actual amount on the balance sheet for short-term debtors.  Although rent collection levels in Flintshire were high, the increase in rent arrears nationally had been identified as a red risk in the Council’s corporate risk register and was being closely monitored by the Community & Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  On the recovery of Council Tax, the Council’s robust approach to maximising collections along with proportionate support had helped to maintain good performance resulting in a collection rate of 97.4% in 2022/23 which was well above the Welsh average.

On the increase in service balances, the officer explained the robust process for challenging and reporting, including carry-forward requests, as detailed in monthly budget monitoring reports to Cabinet and Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Sally Ellis asked about planning for future requirements on asset valuations and was told that the current process would be undertaken annually, for consistency.  In response to further questions, the Corporate Finance Manager had no concerns about meeting the revised deadlines for 2023/24.  On the reduction in Council Fund reserves shown in the Movement in Reserves Statement, he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22