Agenda item

(To receive a report from Mike Norman (Mazars) which presents an updated Audit Completion Report for Mazars' audit of the 2019/20 Lincolnshire County Council Financial Statements)

Consideration was given to a report by the Council's external auditors, Mazars LLP, which presented an updated Audit Completion Report for their audit if the 2019/20 Lincolnshire County Council Financial Statements.

The report issued was broadly unchanged from that issued a month previously, and the external auditors conclusions were unchanged and the value for money opinion would be an unqualified or unmodified opinion which confirmed that the Authority had appropriate arrangements in place.  Financial statements had moved on slightly, but an unqualified opinion would still be issued.  They would include a slightly extended disclosure note, reflecting that Covid-19 had created some instability in the market.

It was highlighted that the finance team had been very helpful in assisting with this work.

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

·         Reference was made to page 24 of the agenda pack and the uncertainties in property valuations, and it was queried whether it was correct that this Council was extremely prudent in this regard and therefore the risk was low.  Members were advised that there were two main aspects to this, firstly that all local authorities would be affected equally by the material valuation on the majority of assets such as land and buildings.  Secondly, those authorities that had taken on commercial properties as a method of income generation would be facing greater challenges due immediate and long term impact of Covid-19 in maintaining those assets and the income.  Lincolnshire County Council had a material suite of investment properties through county farms, and had not pursued the commercial property strategy, whilst this was not zero risk, it was a different investment strategy.

·         In relation to the Agresso access controls (page 27 of the agenda pack), members commented that they were disappointed to that the user accounts of 173 leavers had not been disabled and raised concern regarding the management response.  The Committee was reassured that this did not mean that the user still had access to the system.  Officers advised that they would take this away and deal with it using the internal control processes, and would come back to the Committee at a later date.

·         In relation to the proposed uplift in the audit fees, it was queried whether this was a commercial decision by the auditors or was it PSAA directed, and whether it was felt that this was reasonable.  Members were advised that as part of the audit strategy an underlying fee element was recognised, due to the additional work which had been required to meet the regulatory standard, particularly in relation to the valuation of land and buildings.  Benchmarking had been carried out to ensure that the fees were fair for the work required.  Consultation with the PSAA had also taken place.  It was also noted that there would be a review of fees for 2021/22 following the Redmond Review.

RESOLVED

            That the updated Audit Completion Report be noted.