Agenda item

The Corporate Governance and Audit Committee is requested (a) to consider the agenda report and its two appendices, the second of which is the audited Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2018 and will be circulated in due course, (b) to note the audited outturn position and (c) to agree the Letter of Representation to be given to Chichester District Council’s External Auditor.

The Committee considered this report circulated with the agenda.  A revised appendix 2 (Statement of Accounts for 2017-2018) to replace the version circulated with the second agenda supplement was tabled at the meeting.

Mr Catlow presented the report.  Mr Cooper was also in attendance.

Mr Catlow outlined the Statement of Accounts for 2017-2018.  He referred to the new requirement, from this year, for the completion of the statement of accounts as at 31 May 2018 instead of as at 31 June 2018, which had resulted in their preparation being challenging for officers.  The preparation of the statement of accounts had been a collaborative effort with the Council’s other services now required to submit their accounts information earlier to meet the new deadline, by the use of service divisional champions.  Following the approval of new accounting policies by the Committee as its last meeting, the number of pages produced for the Statement of Accounts had been reduced in order to focus on the important information and to make it more readable.  There had been no unexpected changes in terms of service revenue.

Mr Catlow drew attention to the Balance Sheet.  The increase in the amount owed by short term debtors and advised that £600,000 related to an increase in monies owed to the Council from sundry trade debtors and housing benefit overpayments, which officers were aware and internal discussions were ongoing.  The amount of money received from CIL was £800,000 and reflected the increase in the number of receipts.  The increase in short term creditors related to the increase in short term which had mostly resulted from the operation of the business rates retention system.

A significant change this year related to Community Services as a result of the outsourcing of leisure.  Mr Cooper, in response to a member comment made about the £1m difference for Residents Service, added that this had resulted from the housing benefit subsidy claim form adjustments following an audit of the claim forms.

Officers responded to members’ questions as follows:

·       Human Resources undertook reports on staff numbers, which were in the public domain a part of the transparency agenda.

·       A no deal Brexit was not currently part of the business continuity risk as this concerned the Council’s own ability to provide its services.  The Risk Register was reviewed quarterly by the Strategic Management Team and reported to members twice a year.

·       The Council had already taken on board the impact of IFRS 9 and had assessed it against the investments the Council currently had.  Comprehensive Income Statement.  At 31 March 2018 whatever was left on the Financial Statement Reserve was transferred into the Revenue Account and an adjustment made in subsequent years.

·       Mrs Belenger undertook to include a footnote in the report stating that Council Tax figure of £11m related to both the District Council’s and parish councils’ share.

·       It was agreed that the broad spectrum of the number of Council employees, their roles and their costs would in future be added to the narrative. 

·       Members were provided with an explanation with regard to the decrease in staffing costs and advised that it was for service managers and directors to ensure that they provided the service required for the community.

·       With regard to Ernest Young’s Chichester District Council Audit Results Report (Agenda item 8):

-        Management Representation Letter - Page 59:  Mrs Belenger explained the

proposed changes made by officers to the letter that took into account the Council’s individual circumstances and the £382,000 not adjusted for

Paragraph 5 was amended to read “…because in our view the estimate provided by the Council was formulated using an appropriate methodology and the adjustments suggested by the Auditor would not be material to the Statement of Accounts.” 

-          Comparative Information - Page 60:  Attention was drawn to the amended sentence to read”…to reflect the Councils revised Cabinet member portfolio responsibilities in the current year’s financial statements.”

RESOLVED

That the audited Statement of Accounts shown in revised appendix 2 for the financial year ended 31 March 2018, note the outturn position and authorise the Letter of Representation to be given to the Council’s External Auditor be approved.