Agenda item

It was reported that the Statement of Accounts for Lincolnshire County Council and for Lincolnshire County Council Pension Fund for the financial year 2015/16 had been completed and independently audited.  Consideration was given to a report which set out the External Auditors findings in their ISA 260 Report to Those Charged with Governance for the County Council's and Pension Fund Accounts.

The Committee received a detailed summary of the report from the Council's External Auditor, with specific focus on the following sections:

·         Proposed audit opinions

·         Key financial statement audit risks

·         Accounts production and audit process – the Authority's financial statements

·         Completion

·         Other matters

·         Change to financial and payroll systems

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:

·         The audit was still in progress, but no material errors had been identified.  It was noted that the work on the Pension Fund accounts was complete.

·         Two risks were identified – the changes to Agresso and the change in the Pension Fund administration.

·         There had been progress with payroll since the report was produced.

·         It was believed that what had been incorporated into the accounts was correct and complete, but there was still some supporting information to be included.

·         The year on year payroll costs were in line with expectations.

·         It was confirmed that the audit opinion would not be affected by the outcome of the review of the Serco Contract which was being undertaken by KPMG.

·         The work undertaken by internal audit would inform the work of the External auditors to determine where any further work needed to be done.

·         It was confirmed that the final audit fee would be higher due to the additional time spent on this year's audit.

·         It was reported that the authority would need to produce a set of accounts with a statement which said that the audit was not complete.  It was noted that this statement could be as detailed or a brief as officers wished.  An updated set of accounts would then need to be published once the work was complete.  Members were advised that the ability for the public to challenge the accounts had passed, however officers were still able to respond to questions received during the time that the accounts were able to be challenged.

·         It was suggested that the Letter of Representation could be approved subject to any further amendments which may be required, and that authority should be delegated to the Chairman and Executive Director to agree those amendments.

RESOLVED

1.    That the External Auditors Report to Those Charged with Governance (ISA 260) for Lincolnshire County Council and the Pension Fund be noted.

2.    That the Letter of Representation be approved, subject to any further amendments, on behalf of the Council to enable the Audit Opinion to be issued.

3.    That authority be delegated to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Executive Director for Finance and Public Protection to agree any amendments as necessary to the Letter of Representation.