Decision details

Declarations of interest:

None.

Witnesses:

Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Jonathan Evans, Principal Accountant

Thomas Ball, Grant Thornton

Andy Mack, Grant Thornton

Jeff Bannister, Grant Thornton

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Principal Accountant introduced the report and tabled a paper of minor changes and amendments to the main report which is attached as annex 1 to these minutes.

2.    It was recognised that the balance sheets would be very difficult for the public to read and understand but that the Director’s narrative report would help the public to understand what the figures mean in simple terms.

3.    That Surrey Choices had been shown to have no significant risks was questioned.  The Principal Accountant explained that the report was for the county as a whole and was a high level analytical review.  He also said that Surrey Choices would have its own audit and audit opinion which would be reported back to this committee.  Auditors were very aware of the issues around Surrey Choices and would aim to provide assurance.

4.    In response to a question whether Orbis would be audited separately it was reported that Orbis would be included in a Value for Money (VfM) audit.  The external auditor also responded that the council could request they look at specific areas/issues.  It was also pointed out by the Principal Accountant that the Council needed to consider the large risks and take account the size of the organisation/partnership with regard to risk. 

5.    There was some discussion around Committee concerns that there may not be right amount of leadership in terms of time and effort given to roles and skills.  That many of the leading members had various roles and maybe were spread too thin.  The main concern from this was that it would be easy for something important to be missed.  The external auditor explained that further audit work was to be done and they expected next year’s plan to deal with these issues.

Action/Further information to note:

None.

Resolved:

1.    That the 2015/16 Statement of Accounts , as attached in Annex A to the report, was approved for publication on the Council’s website and in a limited number of hard copies.

2.    That the contents of the 2015/16 Audit Findings Report in Annex B to the report was noted.

3.    That the officer response to recommendations of the external auditor was agreed.

4.    That the Director of Finance’s letter of representation, as in Annex C to the report was noted.

5.    That there were no issues in the Audit Findings Report that should be referred to the Cabinet.