The Audit and Governance Committee meeting included a report on the status of the Council's finances from external auditors, and considered the Committee's schedule of meetings for the following year. The meeting also reviewed a list showing whether the council had done what the Committee had previously asked it to do.

Auditors Annual Report

The Committee was scheduled to receive the external auditor's Annual Report on the 2022/23 financial year.

This was an interim version of the report, as the final version had not yet been completed. In the covering report, the auditors Grant Thornton noted that:

Grant Thornton UK LLP issued an adverse opinion on Plymouth City Council’s financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. This means we concluded that the financial statements do not present a true and fair view in accordance with applicable law and UK accounting standards.

The report noted that a 'disclaimer of opinion' had been issued for the financial statements from the 2021/22 financial year, and that:

The previous year’s matters are still causing a significant delay to the completion of the audit for the current year, and we are therefore not yet able to form an opinion on the 2022/23 financial statements.

Audit Findings Reports 2021/22 and 2022/23

The committee was scheduled to receive a report on the findings from the audit of the council's finances for 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Approval of Statement of Accounts 2021/22 and 2022/23

The committee was scheduled to approve the Statement of Accounts for 2021/22 and the Statement of Accounts for 2022/23.

Tracking Decisions

The Committee was scheduled to consider a report on the status of the implementation of its previous decisions.

This report showed that the Committee had previously asked for:

• a SharePoint page that would allow it to monitor risk management information to be created
• an independent review to be conducted into a pension transaction from October 2019
• the Council's Whistleblowing Policy to be reviewed

Work Programme

The Committee was scheduled to consider its work programme for the following year.

This work programme set out the schedule of meetings for the Committee for the following year, and the topics that were expected to be discussed at each meeting.

The work programme included consideration of:

• the Council's Treasury Management Strategy
• a Consultation on the Electoral Cycle
• the Council's Capital Finance Strategy
• the Data to Intelligence Strategy
• the Council's Procurement Strategy
• a review of the efficiency and effectiveness of updates that have been made to the Council's constitution