Meeting documents

To be presented by Thomas Slaughter, Assistant Manager, Grant Thornton – External Auditors.

Mr T Slaughter presented to the Committee the External Audit plan for the County Council.

During discussion key points were highlighted as follows:

• The changes announced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) / of the implementation of the Highways Network Asset Code for the financial reporting requirements of local authorities would no longer go ahead.  It was noted that the work that had already been carried out for this was no longer required
• In line with previous years, financial statements materiality was calculated based on a proportion of gross revenue expenditure. For the purposes of planning the audit they had determined overall materiality to be £15,896k (being 2% of 2015/16 gross revenue expenditure). Their assessment of materiality was kept under review throughout the audit process and any revisions during the audit would be advised.   The Committee asked why materiality was different between the Pension Fund (being 1%), Mr Slaughter confirmed that this was the same as previous years and considered appropriate and that their focus was on income and expenditure.  He also confirmed that any statements greater than £795k would be reported.
• Significant, additional and other risks identified were also highlighted in the report
• The Committee’s attention was draw to the Value for Money (VfM) assessment in the report and highlighted the risks identified.  Mr Slaughter confirmed that most of their work would focus on Children’s Services and they were being kept up to date with progress made following the Ofsted inspection.  Mr Slaughter confirmed that currently  it was likely the previous qualification given would be retained
• The update highlighted the timeline of the audit with it starting at the beginning of June, expected completion to be by the end of June, for a report to be presented at the Regulatory and Audit Committee in July.
• The fees of the audit were highlighted in the report, again set by the PSAA, which included an additional £2k prescribed by the PSAA (subject to agreement) nationally.  Mr Slaughter confirmed that there would also be a separate billing fee for Bucks Care, but at present could not comment on the final level of the fee.
• It was suggested that as the bulk of audit planning was carried out in January, that the report provided could come sooner next year to the Committee.  It was reflected that it had been deferred this year due to the April meeting being cancelled because of local elections and in the future it would be planned to come to the Committee in January and would be added to the forward plan.

The Committee made the following comments:

• Reference was made to the significant risk highlighted regarding the evaluation of plant, property and equipment.  It was noted that the Council were making ongoing investments into property and the need to ensure Audit competences of external bodies.  Mr Slaughter confirmed that as part of the process external bodies were contacted, in this case Carter Jonas in relation to their approach to evaluating properties, which allowed comparison to national guidelines to be made.  
• In respect of the Value for Money aspect of Social Care and how this would be monitored and challenged.  Mr Slaughter advised that they would gain an understanding Social Care arrangements and whether the County Council were meeting their statutory duties.  It was also confirmed that updates were received from those implementing the improvements in Children’s Services to check whether these would be qualified or not. This would be based on commentary within their report providing assurances that improvements were being made.
• The Committee referenced the delay in the year end accounts for Bucks Care.  Mr Slaughter confirmed there were two audits still ongoing and that a signed copy of these was awaited, upon receipt details would then be provided to the Committee.
• The Committee discussed the viability of pulling forward the audit cycle and the option of closing accounts on a monthly basis, as is done in the private sector.  Mr R Ambrose confirmed that there were a small number of Local Authorities that already did this and that the previous year’s Audit had been signed off in July, 2 months earlier than in previous years. It was therefore likely to be the same time this year.
• It was confirmed that the contract with Grant Thornton was due to expire at the end of 2017, the Chairman thanked Mr Slaughter and his colleagues for the support given over a number of years.

RESOLVED: The Committee noted the report.