Agenda item

(External Auditor) To consider the attached report (AGC-028-2014/15).

The External Auditor presented two reports to the Committee, the first being the Audit Plan for 2013/14 which summarised the significant risks with an impact on the audit and the key outputs from the Audit, and the second was the Planning Letter for 2014/15 which detailed the proposed fee and audit arrangements.

In respect of the Audit Plan for the 2013/14 financial year, the External Auditor reported that the Audit Plan summarised the proposed work to be undertaken for the audit of the 2013/14 financial year. It would be designed to respond to significant risks and indicate where the focus of resources would be in providing an opinion on the financial statements and value for money conclusion. There were two significant risks presumed by the Auditing Standards, these being: Management Override; and Revenue Recognition. The Plan set out the proposed fee for the Audit as £85,329 plus VAT, with a further fee of £28,100 for the certification of claims and returns. However, the Audit Commission had recently announced that the fee for the certification work would reduce by 12%. The Audit Commission also announced a further rebate across all local audit bodies; this equated to 13.7% against the 2012/13 audit fee or £11,690 for this Council.

The External Auditor informed the Committee of the expected key outputs from the audit:

·                     a report on any significant deficiencies in internal controls arising from the interim audit in May 2014;

·                     a final report to those charged with governance in September 2014;

·                     the opinion on the financial statements and a value for money conclusion by 30 September 2014;

·                     an assurance statement on the Whole of Government Accounts by 3 October 2014;

·                     a summary of findings from the audit in the Annual Audit Letter in October 2014; and

·                     the results of the Grant Claims and Returns certification work in January 2015.

The Committee noted that the proposed audit fee had remained unchanged from the previous year, and welcomed the rebates and reductions announced by the Audit Commission.

With regard to the Planning Letter for 2014/15, the External Auditor reported on the proposed fees and programme of work for the 2014/15 financial year. The proposed core audit fee would remain at £85,329, whilst the proposed Certification Fee would also reduce from the £26,800 indicated in the Letter to £24,710. The focus of the planned work would again be on the audit of the financial statements, the value for money conclusion and the Whole of Government Accounts return.

The planned outputs for 2014/15 were as follows:

·                     a detailed Audit Plan in January 2015;

·                     a report on any significant deficiencies in internal controls arising form the interim audit in May 2015;

·                     the final report to those charged with governance in September 2015;

·                     the opinion on the financial statements and the value for money conclusion in September 2015;

·                     the Assurance Statement on the Whole of Government accounts and report to the National Audit Office in October 2015;

·                     the Annual Audit Letter in October 2015; and

·                     the Grant Claims and Returns Certification report in December 2015.

Resolved:

(1)        That the following reports from the External Auditor be noted:

(a)        the Audit Plan for 2013/14; and

(b)        the Planning Letter for 2014/15.