Agenda item
DELOITTE ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION
Minutes:
The Chair invited Mr Gooding, external auditor from Deloitte’s to present his report.
Mr Gooding informed Members the report before them set out the Audit Plan for 2019/20 and scoped the work the external auditors would be undertaking. Mr Gooding said it identified the significant risks the audit would be focussing on and set the level of materiality applied to the audit. It also reconfirmed their independent role as external auditors.
Mr Gooding said certain elements of their risk assessment and planning were not complete due to the delay of finalising the 2018/19 audit. He said the idea was to complete the two audits over the summer months with a view to present their findings by the end of November 2020. He said the significant risks identified in the document were consistent with those identified previously such as property value, capitalisation of expenditure and the recognition of income from grants and contributions plus the management risk of override of control, which is a presumed risk under auditing standards.
In response to questions from Members the following was noted:
· In reference to level of materiality, page 26 of the agenda, Mr Gooding confirmed they were not required to report errors found below the materiality threshold of £1.25m to the Audit Committee or management. Mr Gooding said the threshold was consistent with other local authorities. There may be circumstances where matters come to their attention that they could raise but it was not required of them.
· In response to the assessment of the value for money risk and the impact of the erosion of savings through inflation, Mr Gooding said the focus of their audit was on the arrangement, governance and processes specific to the criteria set out in the plan. Whilst they would look at financial management and control, the example given would not be considered a significant risk.
· In response to if the risks identified in the report had changed significantly from those identified at the beginning of the year, Mr Gooding explained the work plan related to the 2019/20 audit. Some risks were consistent with those identified last year and adjustments had been made, for example to the income and grants risk, with a greater focus on controls for this. Mr Gooding said the areas identified were consistent with other local authorities.
· In reference to page 30 of the agenda, Property valuation, Mr Gooding was asked what the timeframe was for officers to put into place effective controls. In response Mr Gooding sad there was a standing expectation that controls would be in place, however it was evident from the 2018/19 audit significant work was required to ensure the property valuations were correct and were recorded accurately. Mr Gooding said they would be undertaking further testing of this control in 2019/20.
· Mr Fish, external auditor confirmed the focus on grants was a carry forward from the pervious plan of 2018/19 and covered a wide remit including leaseholder contributions and the Community Infrastructure levy.
The Chair thanked Mr Gooding and Mr Fish for their contribution to the meeting.
The Audit Committee RESOLVED to:
NOTE the Deloitte work plan for 2019/20 and looked forward to their key findings report later in the year.
Supporting documents: