Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director of Resources which asked the Committee to note the contents of the report prepared by the Council’s External Auditor (Mazars) as a result of their audit of the Pension Fund’s accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019 (for copy see file of Minutes).

Sharon Liddle of Mazars presented the Audit Completion Report, and was pleased to report that the audit was completed in advance of the 31 July deadline. The work undertaken on the two risks identified in the Audit Strategy Memorandum (management override of control and valuation of unquoted investments) provided assurance and there were no material issues to bring to the Committee’s attention. There were no material adjustments required to the financial statements.  

Councillor Atkinson queried the internal control recommendation regarding IT access and periodic review of active directory accounts, and was informed that systems had now been improved since this was raised last year.

Councillor Lethbridge made reference to the Risk Register which should be reviewed annually in accordance with the Committee’s Terms of Reference. The Member was advised that although it had not been reported to the Committee, Pension Fund Risks had been reviewed in line with the scheduled timescale by the Risk Manager/Pensions Manager. The Committee had reviewed the risks in March 2019 and would be reported annually going forward.

Resolved:

That

a)   the External Auditor’s report following the audit of the Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019, including the summary of misstatements detailed in section 4 of the report, be noted;

b)   the content of the Management Representation Letter (Appendix A), Auditor’s Report on the Council’s Statement of Accounts (Appendix B) and the Consistency Report to be included in the Pension Fund Annual report (Appendix C), be noted.