Issue - meetings

(a)       That the draft Statement of Accounts 2012/13, together with the underlying policies, be noted;

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

(c)        That the Committee be provided with a written response to the above three queries raised by Councillor Bateman.

Prior to consideration of the report, the Chair referred to concerns that she had previously raised about the sharing of information on matters relating to the acquisition of AD Waste and that she and the former Vice-Chair, Mr. P. Williams, had subsequently felt could be addressed through an audit carried out by an external auditor.  A range of information had subsequently been shared at a confidential briefing with the Chief Executive, senior officers and Mr. J. Herniman of the Wales Audit Office (WAO), which provided clarification.  Although some responses to queries raised by Mr. Williams remained outstanding, the WAO had agreed with the advice of officers that there was no requirement for an external audit.  Any balances in the financial statements would be looked at as part of the annual audit of the accounts.  The Chair indicated that she was satisfied with this resolution and commented on positive working with officers to achieve this.

The Chief Executive thanked the Chair, Vice-Chair and Mr. Williams for attending the briefing and confirmed that the remaining information would be provided.  In response to further comments, he advised that once the liquidation of AD Waste had been completed, a confidential report on the service continuity outcomes would be provided to the Committee with planned future internal audit work on waste operations including specific reference to ‘inherited’ operations.  Councillor P.G. Heesom also indicated that he had been satisfied with the response provided at the briefing.  Mr. Williams thanked officers for the open and frank exchange which had taken place to bring the matter closer to a conclusion.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report to present the Statement of Accounts 2012/13 (subject to audit) for Members’ information only at this stage.  The accounts would be submitted to the Committee in late September 2013 for approval and recommendation to County Council following the audit.

The Corporate Finance Manager and Finance Manager (Strategy & Technical) delivered a presentation which detailed the main points:

·        Purpose and Background

·        Key Dates

·        Responsibility

·        Contents and Overview

·        Links to Budget Monitoring

·        Headlines - Council Fund, Reserves at Year End, Capital and HRA

·        Core Statements

·        Changes in 2012/13

·        Next Steps

In response to earlier comments, a number of changes had been made to improve the format and layout of the accounts to assist the reader.  The Committee was asked to encourage all Members of the Council to attend the ‘drop-in’ sessions with senior Finance officers in early September which offered the opportunity to raise queries on the accounts.  Dates were being arranged and Members would be notified in due course.

Ms. A. Hughes of WAO confirmed that the draft accounts had been received within the statutory deadline and that there was a helpful ongoing dialogue with officers to address any issues arising.

The Head of Finance passed on her thanks to the officers across the Council who had worked hard to produce the draft accounts.

Councillor G.H. Bateman queried the increase in net expenditure for cultural and related services from last year and asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18