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  • Agenda item

    FINAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 AND RELEVANT AUDIT

    • Meeting of Governance and Audit Committee, Thursday, 28th November, 2024 10.00 am (Item 11.)

    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:

    • Front Report 2023.24 Accounts, item 11. pdf icon PDF 208 KB
    • Statement of Accounts 2023.24, item 11. pdf icon PDF 1000 KB
    • ISA260 Cyngor Gwynedd 2023-24, item 11. pdf icon PDF 696 KB

     

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