Issue - meetings

Purpose: This report provides Members with the draft Auditor’s Annual Report and Year-End Report to the Governance Committee, both documents prepared by KPMG following their external review of the Council’s 2023/2024 Draft Statement of Accounts. 

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 5) concerning the Audit Findings for West Berkshire Council - Financial Year Ended 31 March 2024.

The Senior Financial Controller (Interim) introduced the report and highlighted that the recommendation presented to the Committee was to delegate the signing of the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts to the Service Director (Finance, Property and Procurement) (S151 Officer), in consultation with the Chairman of the Governance Committee. He also confirmed that the deadline for their approval was by the end of February 2025.

The representative from KPMG, Jonathan Brown, discussed both of their reports before the Committee; the annual auditors report, which was intended for publication on the Council’s website, and the audit findings report, which was discussed by Members of the Committee. He informed Members that work had been done on the 2023/24 Statements but that, as per the Backstop on local government accounts agreed by Central Government, these Accounts would contain a disclaimer of opinion. However, he assured the Committee that KPMG were still on track to get the Council back to having unqualified opinions.

The Council’s payroll system and investment property valuations were identified as the two large outstanding areas left for the audit. The representative from KPMG noted that the reasons for the delay included the Council changing payroll systems and that the Council had procured a new valuer who was taking time responding to KPMG’s questions. Both the representative from KPMG and the Section S151 Officer emphasised that the Council’s central finance team and KPMG had been working very positively together, and that, as no further delays were expected, the audit was on track for completion by the Backstop date.

In terms of Value for Money, the representative from KPMG indicated that their final reporting on this highlighted the precarious financial position of the Council given the low levels of reserves – something that had been previously identified.

A question was raised about the wording of the audit findings executive summary, and if the language used may indicate that the Council was at fault for needing the Backstop and a disclaimer of opinion. Members noted that at the Governance Committee meeting on 19 November 2024, the Letters of Representation for 2021/22 and 2022/23 were signed off with the agreement that the no-fault nature of the Backstop be included, as well as indicating in the 2022/23 letter that the previous external auditor had not commenced any work on that audit. In response to the question about wording, the Section S151 Officer indicated that they would work on the final phrasing before it was published, but that the wording before the Committee would be the standard wording used by KPMG for Backstopped audits. The Chairman agreed that that they should look to apply similar wording as was used in the approved Letters of Representation in order to ensure the public better understood the reasons behind the disclaimed audit. 

Members asked about the projected £2.5-£3m revenue increase as a result of five hundred houses being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4