Order of Items: The Chair announced that Item 8 would be discussed after Item 5 on the Agenda.

The Interim Assistant Director of Resources presented the report advising that Officers were working closely with external audit and had put a number of measures in place to achieve the earlier closing date including reviewing the closing timetable, employing additional temporary staff and resolving issues with the finance IT system. The Interim Assistant Director of Resources noted that in light of this work the External Auditors had re-evaluated London Borough of Merton’s risk profile for closing the accounts from red to amber.

The External Auditor advised that a new online portal had been implemented which was making the processes quicker and whilst there were still residual issues they were in the minor category. The amber category reflected that External Audit were more confident in the Councils’ ability to meet the closing deadlines.

In response to member questions the External Auditor advised that the earlier closing date was from Central Government and therefore affected all Local Authorities.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the work undertaken by officers to prepare for the closure of the 2017/18 Statement of Accounts.