The Audit and Standards Committee was scheduled to convene on Wednesday, 3 December 2025, to address key financial matters. The agenda included an update on the progress of the Council's and Pension Fund's Statement of Accounts for 2024-25, following a review by the Audit & Standards Advisory Committee. Councillors were also expected to approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Statement of Accounts 2024-25

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of finalising the Council's and Pension Fund Statement of Accounts 2024-25. The report, presented by Minesh Patel, Corporate Director of Finance & Resources, provided an overview of the statement of accounts for both the council and the pension fund.

The report outlined that the Audit Committee is responsible for considering issues raised by external auditors during the approval of the annual statement of accounts. The basis for this consideration is the ISA260 (Audit Findings Report) produced by the council's external auditors, Grant Thornton, after the audit of accounts is complete.

According to the report pack, Grant Thornton were in the process of finalising the audit of the 2024/25 accounts and their ISA260 (Audit Findings Report) at the time of writing. Most key audit areas had been reviewed by Grant Thornton, with some awaiting review by senior management. The main outstanding areas were Plant, Property & Equipment and Leases. The report pack stated that the council had experienced poor record keeping by service areas relating to these items in recent years, so these areas have required extensive review at both the preparation and audit stages for the 2024/25 accounts to ensure that they are materially correct.

The report pack noted that the council has been working on an improvement plan to address the shortcomings of its records of assets since the completion of the audit of the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts. Internal Audit has also reviewed the Property department's Asset register and associated processes.

The report pack also mentioned a series of 'backstop' dates introduced by the government in 2024 to clear local authority audit backlogs. For 2024/25, the backstop date is 27 February 2026.

As part of the accounts sign off process, Brent are required to issue a letter to the auditors that sets out the responsibilities and representations made by Brent to the auditor to confirm that certain matters have been undertaken and confirm the responsibilities of Brent to ensure there is no misunderstanding. Draft letters for the Council and Pension Fund were included in the report pack.

The report pack detailed that the audit fees as per the original audit plan are £545,235 and the additional fees incurred, primarily as a result of the additional work required on Plant, Property and Equipment, totals £19,000. Further fees may be incurred as part the audit of leases if additional work is required.

The committee was asked to:

• Delegate approval of the draft letters of representation to Grant Thornton for the Council and Pension Fund to the Corporate Director of Finance & Resources, as set out in the appendices.
• Approve the final statement of accounts for 2024/25, subject to a written assurance being provided that all outstanding matters and adjustments contained in the Audit Findings report had been made.
• Agree the audit fees for 2024/25, as set out in the report.

The draft letter of representation from the London Borough of Brent to Grant Thornton UK LLP covered the following:

• Financial statements
• Information provided
• Annual Governance Statement
• Narrative Report
• A list of subsidiary undertakings

The draft letter of representation from the Brent Pension Fund to Grant Thornton UK LLP covered the following:

• Financial Statements
• Information Provided

The Brent Pension Fund Draft Audit Opinion stated that in Grant Thornton's opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the financial transactions of the Pension Fund during the year ended 31 March 2025 and of the amount and disposition at that date of the fund's assets and liabilities;
• have been properly prepared in accordance with the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2024/25; and
• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

Minutes from the previous meeting

The committee was scheduled to approve the minutes from the previous Audit and Standards Committee meeting held on the 16th July 2025 as a correct record. According to the minutes, the previous meeting addressed the Annual Governance Statement 2024-25, which was approved for formal sign off following discussion at the Audit & Standards Advisory Committee. Councillor Jumbo Chan, Chair of the Audit & Standards Committee, closed the meeting at 8.07pm.