The meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee included an update on the 2022/23 audit, the final accounts for 2022/23, and a request for the committee to approve the publication of the accounts.

Audit Completion

The committee was provided with an update on the progress of the 2022/23 audit. The report pack contained an update on the matters arising from the previous stage of the audit. The report pack stated that as a result of delays to the audit:

external audit are unable to complete the audit as originally planned, in advance of the backstop date of 13 December 2024.

As a result:

they will be issuing a disclaimer of opinion. This means they are expressing no opinion on the financial statements.

Statement of Accounts

The Committee was asked to review the Statement of Accounts 2022-23 for 2022/23 ahead of approving its publication. The Statement of Accounts sets out the income and expenditure of the council in a given financial year, and the value of the assets and liabilities it holds at the end of that year.

The committee was asked to approve a Letter of Representation, that would be sent by the council to its external auditors. The report pack explained the purpose of the letter:

Each year, on completion of the audit of the Council's financial statements, the Council is required to submit a letter of representation to its external auditor. Without the letter of representation, the auditor cannot issue an opinion on the Council's accounts. The letter sets out assurances from the Council to Forvis Mazars that relevant accounting standards have been complied with and gives further assurances that the Council has disclosed information where to withhold it would have undermined the accuracy and reliability of the Statement of Accounts.

The report pack recommended that:

Members approve the publication of the final version of the Statement of Accounts for 2022/23