Agenda item

(To receive a report by Dave Simpson, Technical and Development Finance Manager, which presents the draft Statement of Accounts for the financial year 2017/18 for scrutiny and comment by the Audit Committee)

Consideration was given to a report which provided members with an opportunity to scrutinise and comment on the draft Statement of Accounts.  The final Statement of Accounts would be presented to the Audit Committee on 23 July 2018 for approval.

Members received a presentation which provided detailed information in relation to the following areas:

·         Introduction and Background

·         Further Background

·         Role of the Audit Committee

·         Role of the External Auditor

·         Narrative Report (pages 147-156 of the agenda pack)

·         The Main Financial Statements

·         Expenditure and Funding Analysis (p. 157 of the agenda pack)

·         Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Analysis (p.158 of the agenda pack)

·         Movement in Reserves Statement (p.159 of the agenda pack)

·         Balance Sheet (p.160 of the agenda pack)

·         Cashflow Statement (p.161 of the agenda pack)

·         Potential Notes of Particular Interest

·         Pension Fund Accounts (p.250 of the agenda pack)

·         Lincolnshire's LGPS Pension Fund Account (p.250 of the agenda pack)

·         Potential Question Topics

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and presentation, and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         In relation to the outturn report and the under spend of £44m, it was clarified that of that amount £27.3m was the Council's underspend, the remainder belonged to schools.  It would be recommended to Council that £17m be put into the reserves.

·         The outturn report would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, then Executive and finally, it would be approved by Council at its meeting in September.

·         It was noted that the biggest item in relation to the income and expenditure statement was the schools budget.  The main expenditure outside of schools, was adult social care.  There would be a need to look at the use of resources for future years, as that would be where the pressures would be.

·         It was noted that Adult Care funding had been stabilised for the time being by the Better Care Fund (BCF) but there was a lot more uncertainty in relation to children's social care.

·         Members were advised that the revenue support grant from government was reducing to the point where it would be non-existent and would be replaced by a new system.

·         It could be estimated what the Council's pressures would be, but it was not known that the government contribution towards these pressures would be.

·         It was noted that Lincolnshire was in the same position as every other local authority, police force, fire and rescue and NHS in terms of uncertainty around finance.  However, members were informed that Lincolnshire was equipped to deal with this uncertainty.

·         It was noted that the Lincolnshire Pension fund was funded, however, the scheme relied on new people enrolling in it.

·         In relation to Note 39 – Related Parties – it was queried whether the part relating to councillors could be re-worded to make it simpler to understand.

·         The final set of accounts would be brought back to the Committee in 4 weeks' time for approval.

RESOLVED

            That the comments made in relation to the Statement of Accounts be noted.