Decision details

Purpose of Report

To present for information the final Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2022, following substantial completion of the audit opinion. 

Decision

That following scrutiny of the statement of accounts for the financial year ended on 31 March 2022, the Statement of Accounts be recommended to Council on 29 November 2022 for approval.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None. The Council was required to publish its statement of accounts for the financial year 2021/22 with an audit opinion and certificate by no later than 30 September 2022.

Reasons for the Decision

The Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 provided a comprehensive picture of the Council’s financial circumstances and had been compiled to demonstrate probity and stewardship of public funds.

The Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 were still subject to verification by External Audit.  The audit of the accounts was being finalised by Mazars, who commenced the audit in July 2022.  The majority of the audit work had now been completed by Mazars, however, should any material changes be necessary as a result of this final external work, these would be reported back to a meeting of the Audit Committee by the Chief Finance Officer.

The Council made the statement of accounts available for public inspection for the required ten working days, between 1 and 12 August 2022, during which time, the external auditor was available to answer questions, although none were received.  During the completion of the external audit there no misstatements above the threshold level of £49,000 had been found.

The Council was also required to provide a documental annual review of the effectiveness of its governance arrangements (Annual Governance Statement), which sat alongside the Statement of Accounts; the overall level of assurance provided in 2021/22 was substantial (green) and was in line with the Council’s code of corporate governance.

However, there was one significant issue that had been identified.  This was in respect of IT Disaster Recovery, an issue which was included in the previous year’s AGS.  Although progress had been made over the last twelve months it was felt that this issue should remain on the list of significant issues, and progress against the actions would be regularly reported by management to the Audit Committee.

There were no new significant issues identified in 2021/22.