Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director Resources

Considered – the report of the Corporate Director, Resources which updated Members on the audit and publication of Statement of Final Accounts (SOFA) of legacy Councils and sought approval of the Committee to approve the Statement of Accounts of legacy Councils following completion of external audit.

The report was introduced by John Raine, Head of Technical Finance.  Further updates were provided on the progress of external audit work by Nicola Wright, Deloitte including in relation to on-going 2022/23 work and the pension fund.

Mark Kirkham, Mazars, External Audit, commented on the report.

Councillor Cliff Lunn, Chair, commented on central government directives relating to external audit opinions.

Greg Charnley, Public Sector Audit Manager, Grant Thornton UK LLP joined the meeting remotely and commented on Appendices E and F, Grant Thornton RDC Ryedale District Council (RDC) 2022/23 Audit Findings report and the RDC 2022/23 Auditors Annual report.  Anton Hodge, Assistant Director, Resources, North Yorkshire Council and former Section 151 Officer for Ryedale District Council was also in attendance.

David Portlock, co-opted member enquired whether there were any materials issues that Mr Charnley or Mr Hodge were aware of not reflected in the balance of sheet at RDC of March 2023, that would impact on North Yorkshire Council (NYC) accounts in 2023/24?  Both Mr Charnley and Mr Hodge confirmed there were no material issues they were aware of.

Councillor Maw commented on the exit package for the former Chief Executive of RDC including payments in lieu and whether it represented good Value for Money.  Mr Hodge responded that the RDC’s Chief Executive’s redundancy was undertaken in accordance with consistent and legal practice in such circumstances.

David Marsh, co-opted member enquired whether the forecast outturn for NYC was in line with budget?  Karen Iveson, Assistant Director confirmed that at Quarter 3, the budget overall was reasonably on-track with an underspend of approximately £4m reported to the Executive.

David Marsh, co-opted Member also commented that it had been general practice for the Committee to have private meetings (without North Yorkshire Council Officers present) with the internal and external auditors annually, would this continue?  Max Thomas, Veritau confirmed he would arrange a meeting, probably around September, 2024.

David Marsh, co-opted member, commented on the update on Legacy Council Accounts 2022/23 (Appendix A of the submitted report) and in particular, the status of those audits still in progress.  He further enquired why the former Craven District Council draft accounts had not been completed?

Karen Iveson, Assistant Director, Resources responded that the former Craven District Council 2022/23 audit was progressing and anticipated they would be completed by next month.  A brief update on the Scarborough Accounts and Harbour court case was also provided.

Questions were further asked around the anticipated completion dates of all the legacy Council accounts and staff capacity to complete this work.

Gary Fielding, Corporate Director, Resources responded that he and his senior management team were keen to complete all the legacy Council’s accounts as soon as this could be done so focus moving forward could be on the new North Yorkshire Council accounts.

Councillor Jabbour commented on the work undertaken by the former North Yorkshire County Council’s externals auditors, Deloitte.  He also referenced the transitional audit work being undertaken and the awaiting of the Court judgment on the harbour matter of the Legacy Scarborough Borough Council accounts. 

Resolved –

That the Audit Committee delegate authority to the Chairman and Section 151 Officer to approve the final Statement of Accounts for Ryedale District Council (2022/23) and authorise the Chairman and Section 151 Officer to sign the Statement of Accounts and Letters of Representation (as detailed at Paragraph 4.7 of the submitted report).

(Nicola Wright, Deloitte, External Auditors left the meeting at this juncture).