Issue - meetings

To seek approval of the Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 and approval of the Audited Financial Statements 2023/24 for publication (report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Deputy Chief Executive – Corporate Development (S151) which sought approval of the Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 and the Audited Financial Statements 2023/24 for publication.

The Deputy Chief Finance Officer – Corporate (PSPS) introduced the report which accorded with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 in seeking approval by the Governance and Audit Committee of the Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 and the Audited Financial Statements 2023/24 prior to their publication on the council’s website.

The covering report outlined the following:

• Background to the report: including the legal deadline for the publishing of the Financial Statements 2023/24 of 28 February 2025 in keeping with the national backstop arrangements;
• That the external auditor had proposed a ‘disclaimed opinion’ for 2023/24 due to the audit of the Financial Statements 2022/23 not being completed;
• Adjusted audit differences;
• Unadjusted audit differences;
• Corrected disclosure differences;
• Control deficiencies;

The Audited Financial Statements 2023/24 were at Appendix 1.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members referred to the adjusted and non-adjusted differences and queried the measures in place to mitigate the need for adjustments in the future.
  • The Deputy Chief Finance Officer – Corporate (PSPS) responded that:
    • Regarding the car parking permit income: this had been addressed and the value included in the data for the current year;
    • Regarding the sum returned from Lincolnshire County Council: the issue had occurred during a period when bank reconciliations had been outstanding however the issue had been resolved and assurance was given that bank reconciliations had been fully up to date since September 2024. Any potential issues would therefore be identified at an early stage. An Internal Audit update on the matter would be presented to the committee as part of the agenda item 8 of the current meeting; and
    • Regarding the missed accrual: it was not uncommon for auditors to identify invoices which had been paid in a different financial year to the related item. Although the aim was to capture all transactions within the relevant period by a specified ‘cut-off’ date, any identified later would not be deemed material to the accounts and therefore remain unadjusted.

• Members referred to the HRA 2023/2024 Outturn on page 44 of the agenda pack, and queried the reason for the higher than expected depreciation.
  • The Deputy Chief Finance Officer – Corporate (PSPS) responded that the 2022/23 budget had not been uplifted for 2023/24 however this had been addressed for 2024/25. The value of the HRA had increased which had also contributed to the higher depreciation figure.

The following queries were raised in respect of the General Fund performance detailed on page 42 of the agenda pack.

• Members queried the £725,000 overspend for Repairs and Maintenance.
  • The Deputy Chief Finance Officer – Corporate (PSPS) referred to the Cabinet Outturn report which had presented that £500,000 of the variance data related to responsive repairs, £126,000 to void repairs and £112,000 to planned external repairs. The supportive narrative stated that “the response for void repairs budgets  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55