Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2009 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  To defer approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2009 until the next ordinary meeting.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 19 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions, or petitions and deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure rules 19,16 and 17 (Part 4B of the Constiitution) respectively.

To receive references from Council and any other Committees or Panels (if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no references were received.

Report of the Corporate Director of Finance.

In accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the Committee received Appendix 2 (ISA260 Report of the Auditor) to the report of the Corporate Director of Corporate Finance on the Statement of Accounts which was admitted late to the agenda and a tabled audit report on the Pension Fund account.  The reports had not been available at the time the agenda was printed and were circulated to ensure that up-to-date reports were presented to the Committee.  Appendix 2 summarised the principal matters that had arisen from the audit that had been conducted for the year ended 31 March 2009.  The auditors also commented that they were required to issue a separate annual report on the pension fund in order to demonstrate the consistency of the accounts with the Statement of Accounts.

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Finance detailing changes to the Statement of Accounts 2008/09.  The Corporate Director of Finance reported that the valuation adjustment of Housing stock on the balance sheet and an unresolved objection of charges to credit cards when paying parking tickets were the two key matters that had been raised by Deloitte LLP, he external auditors.  She added that information relating to the parking charges had been forwarded to the external Auditors to follow up.  The Corporate Director of Finance further advised that the adjustment in the general balances from £5.3 million to £5.7 million had a positive impact upon the general fund balance.

The Corporate Director of Finance also reported that following the Governance and Audit Risk Management (GARM) meeting on 8 September 2009 the Pension Fund accounts had been circulated to Members of the Pension Fund Investment Panel and Licensing and General Purposes Committee for comments.  She confirmed that Members of both Committees had not commented on the Pension fund accounts.

The Corporate Director of Finance expressed her appreciation to Officers within the Corporate Finance Team and external Auditors for their hard work in preparing the Statement of Accounts 2008/09.

The external auditors advised that there had been no significant changes to the statement of accounts since the previous GARM meeting.  Whilst endorsing the view reported by the Corporate Director of Finance on the adjustment to the housing stock and the objection to the parking charges, they reported that the Audit process had been smoother than previous years.

Referring to the report, a representative from Deloitte LLP reported that:

·                     the insurance provision of £5.6 million reported in the statement of accounts for 2008/09 had been overstated by £237,000. this amount had not been adjusted by the Council as it was considered to be materially correct;

·                     the £442,000 provided in the statement of accounts for the Voluntary Severance Scheme had not been materially misstated. However, for control purposes, they had recommended that the date on which the decision was communicated to employees should be recorded in the employee file to ensure correct accounting treatment.

·                     following a detailed review of the purchase order accrual account by the Council,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 125.