The Committee approved the Statement of Accounts for 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 and noted the External Auditor's Completion Reports, including the proposed disclaimer of opinion. Members also noted the Treasury Management Half Year Report and signed off the completion of the Elections Review Action Plan.

Statement of Accounts 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23

The Committee noted the External Auditors Completion Reports, which explained that the auditors had concluded that they could not fulfil all the objectives of the ISAs (UK)¹ and therefore proposed to issue a disclaimer of opinion for each of the three years.

The auditors explained that due to the time required to rebuild assurance levels and return to normal acceptable practices, Councils across the country are likely to receive modified or disclaimed opinions for a number of years. They also noted that The Council should not be unfairly judged for modified or disclaimed audit opinions beyond their control.

Councillor Lorraine Baker requested clarification on what control checks had been done on the figures in the accounts, what finance system was used by the Council, and where background documents were held. The Director – Finance and Procurement explained that benchmarking for the figures were provided by the financial advisors Arlingclose, and spreadsheet models were used to produce the report with checks from officers. They also explained that the Council used the Unit 4 finance system and that there were records to support all the information provided in the accounts, accessible to other officers if needed.

Councillor John Whitehead queried why the investment evaluation was different for both Councils and the Director - Finance & Procurement explained that the difference was due to the difference in timing of when the investments were made.

The Committee approved the Statement of Accounts for each of the three years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 and noted the proposed disclaimed audit report.

Interim Internal Audit Report 2024/25

The Head of Internal Audit introduced the report. This report showed that of the 9 areas of Internal Audit work that had been undertaken or started so far in the financial year, only two related to the planned audit programme.

Councillor John Matthissen raised a concern that only 2 out of 9 of the items on the report were within the audit plan. The Head of Internal Audit responded that the only audit that had been deferred from the previous year was on the arrangements for securing financial resilience and that this was due to pressures on the finance team at the time.

Members debated whether Internal Audits rated as limited assurance should be reported to the Joint Audit and Standards Committee following sign off and completion. They agreed that they should be, and noted the report.

Elections Review Action Plan Update

The Chief Executive introduced the report.

Councillor Simon Dowling, referring to the staffing of elections, asked what the turnover rate of staff had been. The Electoral Services Team Leader explained that there had been no turnover within the team. The Chief Executive added that the team had expanded with additional staff brought in. Councillor Dowling then asked if best practice had been sought from outside the county. The Electoral Services Team Leader responded that the team had been in constant communication with other authorities in the county to allow for a joined up and consistent approach. The Chief Executive explained that as there were not any elections scheduled for 2026, members of the team would be able to visit other authorities to observe their elections.

Councillor John Matthissen asked how it was ensured that additional staff working an election worked well as a team. The Chief Executive responded that the core team remained the same and oversaw the work of colleagues from other parts of the organisation working on the election. The Electoral Services Team Leader explained that all staff were briefed on their role.

The Committee signed off the completion of the action plan.

Treasury Management Half Year Report 2024/25

The Director – Finance & Procurement introduced the report.

Councillor Tim Regester asked when the Councils had invested into the UBS Investment Fund, referring to the closure of the fund. The Director – Finance & Procurement responded that Babergh District Council had invested in 2015 and Mid Suffolk District Council in 2017.

Councillor Whitehead asked for clarification on the debt management account facility. The Senior Financial Accountant responded that this was a service run by the King where local authorities could invest for fixed periods of time at a fixed interest rate.

The Committee noted the report.