To submit –
· Statement of Accounts post-Audit
· Audit Wales’ ‘ISA260’ report
· Letter of Representation (Appendix 1)
To consider and approve the information before authorising the Chairman to certify the letter
Decision:
DECISION:
·
To accept and approve the 'ISA260' Report by Audit
Wales in respect of Cyngor Gwynedd
·
To accept and approve the Statement of Accounts for
2023/24 (post-audit)
·
The Vice-chair of the Committee and the Head of
Finance Department to certify the Letter of Representation electronically
·
To congratulate the officers for their work of
securing an unqualified statement
·
To thank Audit Wales for good collaboration
Minutes:
The Head
of Finance explained that
the 2023/24 accounts, subject
to the audit, had already been presented to the Committee at the September 2024 meeting where the Statement was explained in detail, drawing
the members' attention to
the main matters and the relevant
notes. He noted that the accounts had been subject to an audit by Audit
Wales since 20 June and the Statement
of the Accounts following
the audits were being presented here.
The
Assistant Head of Finance -
Accounting and Pensioning reiterated that an unqualified opinion was given on the accounts by the Auditors and since the version presented in September, adaptations
and recommendations following
the audit had been implemented and consideration had
been given to the misstatements. Reference was made to the four misstatements that had not been corrected, noting that three
of them related to the assets field and one related to the treatment of benefits for the homeless. It was considered that these misstatements were not material, and therefore the Council's intention was to correct them as part of the 2024/25 accounts.
When discussing
the adaptations to the Statement
of the Accounts that had been changed, it was noted, in the context
of the expected adaptation regarding pensions (Pension Commitment), that the last year
was the first year to see a situation of a pension asset instead
of commitment, a situation considered unprecedented due to the conditions of the market and high inflation, and therefore the situation was not unique to
Gwynedd. As a result, it was explained
that there had been considerable discussion in terms
of its treatment in the accounts last year, and there was a guidance by CIPFA and
Audit Wales' Technical Team. However, this year, there
was more guidance from the Actuary, and after receiving confirmation by Audit Wales that this was the preferred calculation method, the accounts were changed
to reflect the new methodology. It was reiterated that the change had impacted the main findings and
the associated notes.
Reference was made
to other adaptations that had been changed
to comply with the CIPFA practice code:
·
Wording was added to Note 4 Accountancy Standards.
·
Addition to Note 39 Contingency Liabilities and associated with this, to the adaptation to the risk in the Annual
Governance Statement due to adapting the timing.
·
Note 18 Debtors - it was seen that the long-term debtors’ figures were material this
year and, therefore, despite being included
in the 'financial instruments' Note, they were required
to also be included in the debtors’ figures.
·
Note 30 'Officers' Remuneration' – an addition to ensure clarity for the readers and to comply with account regulations;
·
Note 33 Associated Parties - many amendments and additions to this note, and because the material level of the note is lower than the rest of the accounts (£10k compared to
£285k). Despite seeming brief, it was noted that much work
had been made to complete the note within a very short
time as there was a need to look at all of Gwynedd councillors' returns. In future, the officers would encourage Councillors to complete their returns in a timely
manner.
The members
expressed their thanks for the report.
Yvonne Thomas, Sioned Owen
and Siwan Glyn from Audit
Wales were welcomed to share their observations. It was reported
that the intention to publish an unconditional
opinion on the accounts with the Statement would highlight true and fair opinion of the situation. It was reiterated that the action steps had now been completed
and there were no additional matters.
Although there was no complete certainty,
it was noted that the Auditors worked on a material certainty
level with a 2023/24 relevance level of £5.703 million and had implemented independently over the period of the audit. Cyngor Gwynedd's finance officers were thanked
for the good collaboration.
Observations arising
from the ensuing discussion:
·
The Finance department officers
were thanked for the good work
- a significant achievement
to achieve the aim within a tight timetable and receive an unconditional statement.
·
Audit
Wales officers were thanked for the good collaboration.
·
They welcomed that the situation was robust.
Note 10: Earmarked reserves: 10:26 - Council
Tax Premium Fund (provision deriving from the Council Tax Premium to achieve the Council's priorities, including the Housing Strategy) - despite being earmarked for the housing scheme (a substantial underspend to date) and that granting a discount and / or charging a premium on second
homes and long-term empty dwellings had been considered at the Full Council meeting in December, was the situation sustainable considering that other services within the Council required support?
In response to the above observation, the Cabinet
Member for Finance noted that the Cabinet's decision (26 November 2024) was
to retain a premium of 100%
on dwellings that had been empty
for 12 months or longer and retain a premium of 150% on class B second homes, in accordance
with Section 12B of the
Local Government Finance Act 1992. He reiterated that £3 million of the fund had been given to the Homelessness Service and the rest
to the Council Tax Premium Fund. He admitted that the spending was less than what came in, but
the Housing Scheme was a
long-term plan. In addition,
he noted that the Housing Service had received grants and that priority was given to spending the grant funding before the money from the fund. He accepted that questions would be raised should the funding not be used, but the sum
of the fund would continue to increase.
In response to an observation that there was a need to construct houses for local people
as soon as possible, it was
noted that 46 units were being
developed on the former Welsh Government site in Caernarfon - this would definitely
make a difference.
RESOLVED:
·
To accept and approve
the 'ISA260' Report by Audit
Wales in respect of Cyngor
Gwynedd
·
To accept and approve
the Statement of Accounts for 2023/24 (post-audit)
·
The Vice-chair of the Committee
and the Head of Finance Department
to certify the Letter of Representation electronically
·
To congratulate the officers
for their work of securing an unqualified statement
·
To thank Audit Wales
for good collaboration
Supporting documents: