Meeting Details

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee considered the Audit Results Report (AC/12/17) for the Year ended 31 March 2017, as produced by the external auditors.

Janet Dawson summarised the key findings from this year's external audit and advised that Ernst and Young (EY) expect to issue ‘unqualified’ opinion on the financial statements of the Council for 2016/17, and to conclude that the Council has put in place proper arrangements to secure value for money in the use of resources, except for sustainable resource deployment arising from pressure from the economic downturn.

Janet Dawson explained that the audit is substantially complete, and that it is not anticipated that the matters still outstanding will have a material impact on the outcome of the audit.  Of the items listed in the Audit Results Report as outstanding at the time of writing, only the bottom five still remain outstanding and EY expect to complete these, and formally issue the audit opinion, by 22nd September.

The Committee noted the report.

The Committee considered the Audit Results Report Essex Pension Fund (AC/13/17) for the Year ended 31 March 2017, as produced by the external auditors.

Phillip King briefly summarised the key findings and advised that EY expect to issue ‘unqualified’ opinion on the financial statements of the Essex Pension Fund for 2016/17.

He confirmed that none of the matters outstanding at the time of writing the Audit Results Report, as listed in the Executive Summary of the Report, are expected to have a material impact on the outcome of the audit.

The Committee noted the report

The Committee considered report AC/14/17, which presented an updated draft of the Council’s 2016/17 Statement of Accounts, which had been amended from the version the Committee received in June 2017, to address matters arising during the ‘final accounts audit’ carried out by EY. It also incorporated the Annual Governance Statement.

In accordance with the requirements of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, the draft 2016/17 Statement of Accounts (including the Narrative Report and Annual Governance Statement) was certified by the Executive Director for Corporate and Customer Services on 26 June 2017, and was then released for external audit.  The public inspection period was also commenced.

The Accounts must now be formally approved by this Committee in order for the Council to meet the statutory deadline of 30 September 2017 for publication of its Statement of Accounts for 2016/17.

Christine Golding gave a short presentation to the Committee which included an explanation of the limited number of amendments made to the Statement of Accounts as a consequence of matters arising during the external audit of the accounts.

Paul Turner advised the Committee that it was proposed to amend the Annual Governance Statement (to reflect that ‘the internal audit review of IT Disaster Recovery delivered a ‘no assurance’ opinion, although the authority’s approach to this has been along the lines of building resilience and this matter is being considered by the Audit Committee in September 2017. Management have also agreed to take action in response to the audit recommendations’.

Margaret Lee offered her personal thanks to all members of staff involved with production of the accounts for the Council and the Essex Pension Fund.

Resolved that the Committee

i. Noted the matters raised in the External Auditor’s ‘Audit Results Reports’ for the Council and the Essex Pension Fund
(presented elsewhere on the Agenda);

ii. Approved Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 (including the Annual Governance Statement and Narrative Report) 2016/17 and the Statement of Accounts as appended to the report (attached as Appendix A to report AC/14/17) as amended; and

iii. Noted the representations that the Executive Director for Corporate and Customer Services will make on behalf of the Council and the Essex Pension Fund (as set out within the Letters of Representation appended to the Audit Results Reports for the Council and the Essex Pension Fund, presented elsewhere on the Agenda).

The Committee considered report AC/15/17 together with accompanying appendices, which provided an update regarding Internal Audit and Counter Fraud activity, and progress on the delivery of the 2017/2018 Internal Audit Plan.

Peter Tanton drew members attention to the following:

• User Access Management - which attracted a "limited assurance" rating. It was explained that this relates to a number of ECC leavers still having access to key systems. Controls have now been put in place to prevent further occurences and it was agreed that a progress update be given at  the December Committee meeting.
• Reorganisation - details of the proposed structure have previously been circulated to the Committee. Peter Tanton advised that he is now part of the Design Authority, who are now capturing the assessed impact and risk of each design. He will be able to provide advice on proposals from an assurance perspective.

The Committee noted the report.

The Committee considered report (AC/16/17) which informed the Committee that CIPFA have been asked to undertake an external assessment of the Council’s internal audit service.

Resolved that the Committee:

Note the decision to commission the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to undertake the external PIAS assessment in 2017/2018.

The Committee considered report (AC/17/17) providing an update on the appointment of the external auditor.

Paul Turner reminded the Committee of the changes brought about by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. The Public Sector Auditor Appointments Limited has informed ECC that it intends to appoint BDO LLP as our external auditors. This will come into effect from the 2018/19 financial year.

Resolved that the Committee:

1. Noted the proposed appointment of BDO LLP as ECC’s external auditor with effect from financial year 2018/19.

2.  Agreed not to make any representation to PSAA Limited on the proposed appointment.


 

The Committee noted the proposed dates and times as follows:

Monday 10^th December 2017 at 10.00am in Committee Room 2

Monday 26 March 2018 at 10.00am in Committee Room 2

There being no urgent business the meeting closed at 11.40 am

That having reached the view that, in each case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption (and discussing the matter in private) outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as specified in paragraphs 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.