This report presents the audited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2018 for adoption by Standards and General Purposes Committee in accordance with the statutory requirements contained in the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the ISA 260.

The Director of Corporate Services presented the report advising that the figures were the current figures available and that the adjustments that officers were aware of had been tabled at the meeting. As the auditor had found an error which affected property valuations in the accounts back to 2015/16, these had been required to be re-done for each year (2015/16, 16/17, 17/18) and this had required some major changes, however it was re-iterated that this had not meant an increase in funds for the Local Authority. The Director of Corporate Services advised that they had been working closely with External Audit to ensure the information was available as much as possible and that a notice had been placed on the Councils’ website to explain that the deadline for publication of the accounts would not be met. It was noted that there were a number of other local authorities in the same position .

In response to member questions the Director of Corporate Services advised that further work would be done and the Committee would be updated on the progress of the accounts. However it was noted that the Pension Fund accounts had been successfully audited with no issues raised, although the auditor’s report could not be issued until the Council accounts had been audited.

In response to further questions the Assistant Director of Resources explained that in regards to the Pension Fund investing in fossil fuels, a new strategy was agreed last year which has resulted in a much lower carbon footprint.

Following a member question regarding the pension board having not met in the year of the audit, officers responded that the board had met in the previous week and that there was an ongoing training programme for members of the panel.

The Chair advised that as the statement of accounts was not complete, the recommendations in the report were unable to be agreed, however the Committee agreed to note the progress made on the accounts and would look to agree the final accounts at the next meeting in September.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the progress on the Final accounts.

The Head of Internal Audit presented the report, advising that it was an annual statement required to support the accounts and a working group of officers met throughout the year with a final review at the year end to complete the statement. The report also contained an update on actions from the previous year and upcoming actions for the year 2018/19.

In response to member questions, officers advised that the new financial system was constantly under review, that work on GDPR was ongoing and that officers continued to work to address staff sickness levels.

RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed the Annual Governance Statement.