Agenda and minutes

The Chair informed Members that Tony Haines, a co-opted member of the committee, had recently passed away.

Mr Haines was a former councillor and had been first elected as a Labour councillor for the Central ward in 1987.  He was re-elected on numerous occasions, latterly as an Independent councillor in the Wexham ward. During his time on the Council, he sat on various committees including the audit committee, planning and development services committee and was vice-chair of the leisure and amenity services committee.  He also served as the Cabinet Member for Housing between 2004 to 2008 and retired as an elected member of the Council in 2012.

More recently, Mr Haines joined the Audit & Corporate Governance Committee as an independent co-opted member in December 2023 and was a valuable member of the Committee, using his skills to challenge information presented as well as providing independent analysis.

The Committee observed a minute silence in memory of Tony Haines.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 9 and Appendix B of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed.

None received.

The Head of Internal Audit introduced a report that set out the interim Internal Audit Plan, covering quarter 4 of 2024/25, for formal approval. 

The interim plan had been put in place in the absence of a formal, risk-based and resourced internal audit plan for the year.  It was aligned to Corporate Plan principles and was based on an assessment of risks identified in the Council’s revised corporate risk dashboards.  Two types of risk-based reviews would take place during the quarter – full audits and sprint audits.  The sprint audits would increase the level of audit coverage and would include assurance reviews in areas where significant action was already been undertaken following inspections.  These audits would help identify any further actions required and could also inform the detailed internal audit planning for 2025/26.  Work on the plan for next year had already begun and resources had been secured for circa 600 audit days in 2025/26, which was significantly higher than the current year.

The report also provided a summary of the Head of Internal Audit’s high level assessment of the service against the nine characteristics of an effective internal audit function.  The first assessment had been carried out in January and was repeated in February.  The report demonstrated that whilst some positive improvement could be noted, there remained some further improvement required in order to move the service into full compliance.

Members asked a number of questions including whether there had been any impairments or barriers to the new internal audit team.  The Head of Internal Audit stated there had been no impairments and they had had open access and positive engagement across the organisation. Positive discussions had taken place regarding ensuring adequate resources were in place to deliver the work of Internal Audit.  It was also stated that the interim plan balanced the resources available in the remainder of the year alongside ensuring key areas of risk would be reviewed.  The Committee sought assurance that a robust forward plan, supported by adequate resources, would be in place to ensure an effective internal audit function in the future.  The Executive Director Corporate Resources explained the steps being taken to support the new Head of Internal Audit and provide some stability to the team.  A handover had taken place with the previous postholder.  The internal audit plan for 2025/26 was being developed and would come to a future meeting of the committee for approval.

After due consideration, the Committee approved the interim internal audit plan for the remainder of 2024/25.

Resolved –

(a)  That the interim Plan for delivery within quarter four of the current financial year be approved.

(b)  That the structure and style of the Plan to inform the development and presentation of the 2025/26 full year Plan be agreed.

(c)  That the initial self-assessment of the Internal Audit, its subsequent follow-up and its associated actions and timing be agreed.

The Finance Director, Corporate and Strategic presented a report on the final Statement of Accounts 2021/22.

The draft accounts for 2021/22 were published for public inspection on 24^th December 2024, having been presented to the Committee on the 10^th December. The statutory period for public inspection had concluded and there were no material changes to the draft accounts as published in December.

In response to whether any queries had been raised during the inspection period it was noted that there had been none.

Following approval of the accounts, the Chair of Audit and Corporate Governance Committee and the S151 Officer were required to sign letters of representation to the auditors, provided in connection with the audit of financial statements for the 2021/22 financial year. It was noted that neither post holders were in post during the financial year in question and accounting transactions processed during that accounting period were processed by a previous finance team.

Resolved  -

(a)  That the Final Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

(b)  That the Letters of Representation for 2021/22 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report be approved.

The Committee received the final 2022/23 Statements of Accounts for consideration and approval. 

The draft accounts for 2022/23 were published on the 31^st December, with the Committee having received the provisional accounts at its 10^th December 2024 meeting. The statutory period for public inspection had concluded and there were no material changes to the draft accounts as published in December. However, it was brought to Members attention that a technical adjustment to the value of £1.1m was incorporated into the final accounts arising from understated carry forward of balances which meant gross income for Corporate Services was understated by that amount. The correction, as reflected in the Movement in Reserves statement, increased useable reserves from £57.126m as at 31^st March 2023 to £58.292m.

Resolved  -

(a)  That the Final Statement of Accounts for 2022/23 as set out in Appendix 2 to the report be approved.

(b)  That the Letter of Representation for 2022/23 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report be approved.

The Finance Director, Corporate & Strategy introduced a report that provided the provisional Statement of Accounts for 2023/24, which set out the draft financial position of the Council as at 31^st March 2024, subject to any final adjustments.

The Committee noted the considerable amount of work undertaken during the past year to clear the backlog of accounts.  It was expected the 2023/24 statement would soon be ready to be published for public inspection.

Members asked questions about a number of aspects of the report including when the work on the material items that remained outstanding would be finalised, such as the notes on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  The officer responded that the work on DSG had just been completed since the report had been written.  Some adjustments would be required but they would not have a material impact on the accounts.

In response to a question about the external audit opinion for the 2023/24 accounts, Julie Masci from Grant Thornton stated that the opinion would be issued after the end of the public inspection period and was expected to come to the committee in April 2025.  The Committee sought assurance that robust plans were in place for the 2025/25 audit.  Ms Masci explained the process that would be undertaken and the audit would be impacted by the timeliness and quality of working papers provided by the Council.  The Executive Director Corporate Resources highlighted that a number of internal control weaknesses had been identified by the new finance team during the year which were likely to impact the position for 2024/25.  A robust financial improvement plan was now in place but it was recognised there would still be some issues with 2024/25 and a significant amount of work was taking place to address the legacy issues.  There was strong and positive engagement between the finance team and auditors.

Resolved –  That the provisional Statement of Accounts for 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be noted.