Agenda item

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an overview of the Council’s 2022/23 unaudited Annual Accounts.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      consider the Council’s unaudited Annual Accounts 2022/23;

(b)      approve the Annual Governance Statement as included in the Council’s unaudited Annual Accounts for the financial year 2022/23;

(c)      consider the unaudited Annual Accounts 2022/23 of the Council’s registered charities;

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

(e)      note that Audit Scotland has now stated that they will not have completed their audit in line with the Council’s early close timeline, presented in December 2022 and therefore a special Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Committee has been arranged on 20 July 2023 to allow for the approval of the audited Annual Accounts;

(f)       note that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee of 20 July 2023 will receive the external auditor’s report on the annual accounts for consideration and that this report will set out the auditor’s findings and conclusions, highlight any significant issues arising from the audit of the annual accounts and inform Councillors of the proposed audit opinion in advance of the accounts being certified;

(g)      note that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee on 20 July 2023 will also receive the Council’s audited 2022/23 Annual Accounts for consideration and approval prior to their signature by the Chief Officer - Finance, Chief Executive and the Council co-Leaders;

(h)      note that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee on 20 July 2023 will 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; and

(i)       note that officers will continue to work with Audit Scotland to identify how the Councils’ ‘early close’ timeline can be achieved for external audit work in future years of the appointment.

In response to a question regarding the timeframe for approval, the Chief Officer – Finance explained the sequence of events for the submission of the audited Annual Accounts, noting that they would be submitted to the Special meeting on 20 July for approval.

In response to a question regarding the Council Balance Sheet increase and the Common Good account decrease, the Chief Officer – Finance explained that the Council Balance Sheet increase was largely due to the change in pension liabilities to assets this year and the Common Good and Trust accounts had a different set of financial parameters and were therefore not part of the balance sheet until they become part of the Group accounts. He indicated that a detailed response to questions could be circulated by way of email.

In response to a question regarding the Annual Governance Statement, the interim Chief Officer – Governance (Assurance) advised that the same format was used so that it would be easier to compare from year to year in order to provide an outline of the priorities which were achieved over last year against each of CIPFA’s principles and what would be intended over the next year.

In response to a question regarding remuneration disclosures, specifically the increase in pension strain costs, the Chief Officer – Finance advised that these were due to officers leaving the organisation and being able to access their pensions following approval from the Council, which would normally be through the voluntary severance/early retirement scheme, with additional costs paid to the pension fund. He intimated that there would likely be an increase in costs due to the number of early retirement packages this year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Chief Officer – Finance would provide an explanation to any detailed questions that the members may have via email, with any follow up questions being responded to during consideration of the audited Annual Accounts at the Special meeting of the Committee on 20 July 2023; and

(ii)       to otherwise approve the recommendations and to thank all officers for the extensive work undertaken in terms of the production of the report.