Issue - meetings

To consider the Head of Finance’s Report

To accept the Statutory Statement of Accounts (pre audit draft) for information

The Cabinet Member for Finance took the opportunity to thank all staff at the Finance Department for ensuring that the Council's Accounts Statement had been prepared by 15 June. It was noted that since then, Welsh Government had extended the submission date to November as a number of Councils had confirmed that it would not be possible for them to complete the task by June. The Cabinet Member took great pride, under all the circumstances, in the fact that the Council had managed to complete the statement due to the commitment of department staff during a highly challenging time. He added that the Council's priority since March had been to protect vulnerable people in our communities.

The Head of Finance added that the statement had been completed in the statutory manner, and noted that the pension figures had skewed the overall figures - these were referred to as paper figures and in order to provide somewhat better understanding of the situation, he referred to the information regarding movements in the reserves (page 79). It was felt that it would be necessary to submit the statement, as it would have dated by the Committee's next meeting (14/09/20). As it would not be possible for Deloitte to complete its audit of the accounts until September, it was considered that the Committee could, at that meeting, focus on the external auditors' audit. The Senior Finance Manager added that six sets of accounts had been completed and in the statement's context, it was noted that it was a complex and lengthy statement which adhered to the CIPFA standard form. Attention was drawn to the narrative report and to the main issues contained within the report.

RESOLVED to accept the Statutory Statement of Accounts (pre audit draft) for information