Agenda item

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an overview of the Council’s 2019/20 unaudited Annual Accounts as well as the unaudited Annual Accounts for those registered charities where the Council was the sole trustee and was subject to statutory requirements for separate accounts and audit opinions.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)          approve the Annual Governance Statement as included in the Council’s unaudited Annual Accounts for the financial year 2019/20;

(b)          consider the Council’s unaudited Annual Accounts 2019/20;

(c)          consider the unaudited Annual Accounts 2019/20 of the Council’s registered charities;

(d)          note that following the meeting the Council’s and the registered charities unaudited Annual Accounts would be finalised, signed and submitted to the Council’s external auditors, KPMG and Audit Scotland;

(e)          note that it was the intention that the Urgent Business Committee on 30 June 2020 would receive the Council’s audited Annual Accounts for consideration and approval prior to their signature by the Chief Officer - Finance, Chief Executive and a Council Leader;

(f)           note that the Urgent Business Committee on 30 June 2020 would also receive the external auditor’s report on the annual accounts for debate and consideration and that this report would set out the auditor’s findings and conclusions, highlight the significant issues arising from the audit of the annual accounts and inform elected members of the proposed audit opinion in advance of the accounts being certified; and

(g)          note that the Urgent Business Committee on 30 June 2020 would also receive the audited Annual Accounts for the registered charities for consideration and approval prior to their signature along with the associated external auditor’s report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve recommendation (a), (d), (e), (f) and (g);

(ii)          to note the Council’s unaudited Annual Accounts 2019/20;

(iii)         to note the unaudited Annual Accounts 2019/20 of the Council’s registered charities;

(iv)         to agree in 2019/20, Aberdeen City Council received total income of £457 million, comprising £385 million raised locally through non-domestic rates and Council Tax, with only £72 million received from Scottish Government general revenue grants, with the balance coming from service-related grants, fees, charges and other income;

(v)          to agree the Council continued to maintain a healthy credit rating of Aa3 with a negative outlook, recognising “a strong institutional framework” and “a strong track record of operating performance” and thereby demonstrating external assurance on the financial governance and strength of the organisation;

(vi)         to note the 2019/20 financial year results showed a surplus of £2.2 million for the year across all Council accounts, which showed another strong performance over the year and demonstrated the underlying ability of the Council to deliver longer term financial and service outcomes going forward;

(vii)        to agree the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak brought global economic insecurities and specific uncertainties for the city of Aberdeen and the Council, and that through the Council’s governance arrangements for responding to the emergency, and specific financial resilience plans it aimed to manage and mitigate risks in a robust way to protect the sustainability of Council finances; and

(viii)       to note that the Chief Officer - Finance would provide the members of the Committee with further information following the meeting in respect of (a) a breakdown of the £51 million of net spend on the corporate budgets, including capital financing costs; and (b) an update on additional payments to Councillors in respect of Group Leader/Interim Group Leader positions.