Agenda item

Report of the City Treasurer

3.1     The Committee received a report on the 2015-2016 final audited Annual Accounts which were being submitted with the final audit reports to Members for formal approval.

3.2     The Committee noted that the report set out in the Agenda had been withdrawn at the request of the City Treasurer and that a revised report had been submitted. The audit report had been amended to reflect changes to the documentation by the Council’s auditors subsequent to the issue of the initial report. These included the inclusion of Management Representation letters and also a final audit report.  The amended report also reflected for completeness the outcome of the audit, the final unaltered financial position, the position on objections to the accounts, the outcome of the audit work and the contribution to the financial transformation programme.

3.3     The Chairman noted that the revised report had been provided with less than the statutory five working days’ notice.  The Committee agreed to accept the report as a matter of urgency to avoid a delay in signing off the Council’s accounts.

3.4     Steve Mair, City Treasurer, summarised the key matters set out in the covering report and highlighted that since the meeting on 12 May 2016 when the Committee considered the draft Statement of Accounts only minor changes had been made to the accounts.  The most significant of which was within note 6 to reference the potential impact of the EU Referendum decision.  In response to questions he clarified that the added reference did not affect the accounts which were based on the previous financial year.  He further clarified that while the Council had not undertaken detailed work in advance of the referendum in case of a possible vote to leave the EU it had put in place measures to mitigate a possible change in the economic climate by steadily increasing its general reserves.

3.5     As mentioned at the meeting on 12 May all previous objections from 2008/2009 to 2014/2015 had now been resolved and the accounts for those years formally signed off.  This was also noted in note 6 to the accounts as a change from the signed Annual Governance Statement.

3.6     Due to a change in legislation, formal approval of the accounts was not possible before a fixed period of public inspection had taken place.  The change in legislation meant that this must now include the first ten working days in July.  Therefore the inspection period had taken place between the 3^rd June and 14^th July 2016.

3.7     The City Treasurer confirmed that no objections had been received on the accounts during the inspection period.

3.8     Paul Dossett, Engagement Lead, Grant Thornton, summarised changes in the final audit findings report for the Council since the committee considered the draft audit findings report on 12 May.  He advised that only minor changes had been made to the report.  This included a table that provided details of unadjusted misstatements relating to Westminster Community Homes.

3.9     Mr Dossett confirmed that Grant Thornton had not received any queries relating to the Council’s accounts.  He advised that while the City Treasurer had received advice from the Council’s Director of Law that the end of the inspection period was deemed to be 4.00pm the advice from the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd was that Grant Thornton should treat the end of the working day as midnight.  He therefore advised that Grant Thornton would not formally sign off the Council’s accounts until the following day.

3.10    The Chairman thanked the City Treasurer and his team, as well as the      Council’s Auditors for the work that they had undertaken given the     challenges faced this year relating to the Managed Services Programme.  He also commended officers for the achievement of building on the performance           for the production and publication of the Annual Statement of Accounts in 2014-2015.

3.11    RESOLVED: 

1.       That the 2015-2016 accounts be formally approved.

2.       That it be noted that the pension fund annual report was reported to Pensions Committee on 21 June 2016.  The Committee agreed to delegate approval of the final Pension Fund Annual Report  2015-16 document to the Tri-Borough Director of Treasury and Pensions, in consultation with the Chairman.

3.12    ACTIONS: Include in future finance period monitoring reports to the committee updates on any implications to the Council relating to exiting the EU.  (Action for: Steve Mair, City Treasurer)

The meeting was then briefly adjourned for the chairman to formally sign off the Council’s accounts.