83 EXTERNAL AUDIT: 2014/15 AUDIT FINDINGS REPORT FOR S.E. BUSINESS SERVICES LTD PDF 38 KB
This report provides the Audit & Governance Committee with the outcome and findings of the external audit of the 2014/15 financial statements of S. E. Business Services Ltd.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Declarations of interest:
None.
Witnesses:
Thomas Ball, Manager – Grant Thornton
Nicola O’Connor, Finance Manager (Assets & Accounting)
David John, Audit Performance Manager
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The representative of Grant Thornton introduced the Audit Findings Report and suggested that overall it was a good outcome for SE Business Services Ltd.
2.
Members thanked Grant Thornton for bringing the issue of the
unsigned contract to their attention and queried Grant
Thornton’s views on carrying on business with an unsigned
contract. The Grant Thornton Manager
stressed that First Community Health and Care was paying the fees
in accordance with the draft contract.
With regard to audit, the unsigned contract did not have a big
impact although it had been raised as a control point. If it is not dealt with by the end of December it
becomes a bigger problem.
In response to a further query about risk, the Grant Thornton
Manager agreed that in theory the unsigned contract was a risk as
SE Business Services Ltd may not be paid in accordance with the
draft contract. However, SE Business
Services Ltd had made a risk-based decision to
continue. As part of the audit, Grant
Thornton had checked that SE Business Services Ltd was being paid
in accordance with the draft contract.
Correspondence was also noted which showed this issue being
followed up.
In response to a question on why the contract remained unsigned,
the Grant Thornton Manager assured the committee that SE Business
Services Ltd had done everything it could to resolve the
issue. Members queried whether Grant
Thornton’s relaxed attitude could lead to them being held
responsible if the unsigned contract does lead to a
problem. It was clarified that Grant
Thornton had raised this as a point in its Audit Findings Report
and would follow up with the management at South East Business
Services Ltd. The responsibility to
resolve the situation lies with them.
The Finance Manager (Assets & Accounting) assured the committee
that this was a one off situation and a measured commercial risk
was being taken to act on an unsigned contract. To date, there had been no problems and the
contract should be signed soon.
The Audit Performance Manager suggested that contracts should be
signed as best practice as otherwise it can lead to
uncertainty. However, legal advice had
allowed for tacit acceptance of contractual
requirements.
The Chairman proposed writing to the Director of Legal and
Democratic Services to query the legal view on unsigned
contracts. This was agreed (Recommendations Tracker ref: A40/15).
Action/Further information to note:
Chairman to write to the Director of Legal and Democratic Services to query the legal view on unsigned contracts.
RESOLVED:
That the committee NOTES the contents of the 2014/15 Audit Findings Report for SE Business Services Ltd.