The Ashfield District Council Audit Committee convened to review several key reports and statements, including the External Audit Progress Report, the Annual Governance Statement, and the Accounting Policies for 2024/25. The committee also looked at other statement of accounts matters. Councillors were scheduled to discuss and potentially approve recommendations related to these items.

Forvis Mazars: External Audit Progress Report

The committee was scheduled to consider the External Audit Progress Report from Forvis Mazars, the council's external auditor. The report provided an update on several key areas:

• Backstop Update: The report discussed the statutory backstop date by which local authorities must publish their financial statements, regardless of whether the external auditor has sufficient evidence to issue a non-disclaimed audit opinion. Ashfield District Council had received disclaimed audit opinions for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. The report noted that guidance had been developed to support local audit suppliers in rebuilding assurance after previous audits had been disclaimed. Forvis Mazars stated that they could not complete their risk assessment until they had received the draft financial statements and secured assurance over the new financial ledger¹. As a result of delays in preparing financial statements and obtaining assurance over the new general ledger's operation and data-transfer processes, combined with the backstop date, Forvis Mazars intended to issue a disclaimed audit opinion on the council's 2024/25 financial statements.

  We intend to issue a disclaimed audit opinion on the Council's 2024/25 financial statements.

  Forvis Mazars: External Audit Progress Report

• Value for Money (VFM) Arrangements: The report stated that the National Audit Office's revised Code of Audit Practice from 2024/25 requires auditors to issue their Auditor's Annual Report, which includes commentary on the council's Value for Money arrangements, by 30 November each year. Forvis Mazars had started their initial risk assessment, and management had completed their self-assessment. Their main considerations were: progress against the significant weakness in financial reporting raised in 2023/24, implementation of the financial ledger in 2024/25, financial sustainability and decision making supporting the 2025/26 budget and medium term financial strategy, and lack of effective challenge by the Audit Committee. The report also noted that circumstances surrounding a land sale made by the council had been brought to their attention, which they were considering under their audit responsibilities.

• Audit Fee Update: The report provided a breakdown of the audit fees for 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, including the scale fee, additional fees for new auditing standards, and fees for addressing issues related to the quality of financial reporting.

Annual Governance Statement

The Audit Committee was asked to review and formally approve the draft Annual Governance Statement 2024/25, which was to be published as part of the Statement of Accounts. The statement reports on the extent to which the council has complied with its Local Code of Corporate Governance, and looks at how the effectiveness of the council's governance arrangements have been monitored and evaluated during the year, and also looks at any planned changes.

The report detailed the preparation process for the Annual Governance Statement, including a review of the effectiveness of the council's governance framework, a Corporate Assurance Assessment carried out by the Strategic Leadership Team, statements of assurance from each Executive Director, and progress reports on improvement actions and significant governance issues identified in the previous year's statement.

The report also outlined how the council works, including the roles and responsibilities of the Council, Cabinet, Committees, and individual councillors and officers, as defined in the Constitution. It also discussed the Decision Making Accountability (DMA) Review, the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge Review, and the roles of the Chief Financial Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

The report included progress updates on improvement actions identified in 2024/25, such as the Digital Transformation Programme and the Equalities Review, as well as progress on significant issues such as financial sustainability and anti-fraud measures.

Accounting Policies for 2024/25 and Other Statement of Accounts Matters

The Audit Committee was asked to approve the Accounting Policies for 2024/25. The report outlined the accounting treatment applied to transactions during the financial year and in the preparation of the Statement of Accounts at the year-end. The Accounting Policies are published within the Statement of Accounts in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Local Government Accounting and incorporate the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The report noted that the Accounting Policies are reviewed each year to ensure they are still relevant and in accordance with the latest version of the Code of Practice and IFRS requirements. The report highlighted the following Accounting Standards that have been introduced or amended by the Code of Practice and changes in the underlying accounting standards in 2024/25: Application of IFRIC 14 (Interpretation of IAS 19) Limit on Defined Benefit Asset (in relation to the valuation of pension scheme assets); and IFRS 16 Leases.

Councillor Rachel Madden, Executive Lead Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, was named in the report.