Agenda item

(Voting: 32 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention)

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised that the 2020/21 Auditor’s Annual Report had made some statutory recommendations which would be discussed later in the agenda.  He referred to the recommendation to note the report and endorse the management’s proposed response and actions to the various recommendations and said that while a number of improvements were suggested to improve the economy, efficiency and effectiveness, no significant weaknesses had been identified.  He said it was a worthy piece of work and the purpose of audit was to improve for the future.  He proposed the recommendations to Council and they were seconded by the chairman of the Audit Committee.

The Chairman of the Audit Committee introduced the External Auditor from Grant Thornton and he stressed that the Audit Committee took the proposed recommendations within the report very seriously.  He said the Finance Team had gone through a number of staff changes and the work of Local Government Review had stretched their resource.  Additional support had now been provided and he apologised to the External Auditors for the behaviour of two ex-staff members.  He outlined the changes in regulations for the External Auditors which required more information and greater scrutiny by them to support their audit opinions.  He noted they had highlighted some areas of good practice around the governance arrangements of the Council’s commercial investments and he said the financial statements were expected to receive an unqualified rating in due course.  

The Chairman of the Audit Committee spoke regarding the statutory recommendations and the management’s proposed response and actions.  He noted that the Audit Committee had proposed recommendations in the following agenda item which would help to prevent any reoccurrence. As part of the key recommendations, the resourcing of the finance team had been addressed so the 2021/22 Auditor’s Annual report should be a smooth process.  The Audit Committee would shortly be signing off the 2021 accounts which should be approved by Council in early 2023.  He invited any questions from Members.

In response to questions from Members, the Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services advised:-

·         He was now satisfied that the governance arrangements around the Council’s investment portfolio were sound.  The Council had ceased to make any further commercial investments for financial gain.

·         The management response confirmed that the recommendations from the previous years audit had been reviewed and implemented.

·         The Audit Committee had received a presentation from the SSDC Opium Power Joint Venture at their meeting that day and they were pleased to hear the business model explained.

·         There would be an internal audit report on the work and governance of the SSDC Opium Power Joint Venture at the next meeting of the Audit Committee.

The Chairman of the Audit Committee recommended that Full Council receive a presentation from the Directors of SSDC Opium Power Joint Venture at a future meeting.  This proposal was seconded by Councillor Sue Osborne and when put to the vote was agreed by 32 votes in favour, 0 against and 1 abstention.

(Voting: 32 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention)