To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2023 (Minute Nos. 211 – 215) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 July 2023 (Minute Nos. 211 – 215) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Head of Finance and Procurement introduced the report which outlined the Council’s Annual Financial Report for 2022/23 and included the external Auditor’s Audit Findings Report for consideration.

The Head of Finance and Procurement thanked the Council’s Finance team and the external Auditors, Grant Thornton, for their hard work to get the Annual Financial Report ready for the Committee.

The Chair invited Matt Dean, Grant Thornton, to speak. He started by thanking the council’s Finance team for their hard work on the accounts and assisting them in completing the Audit. He added that all the field work had been completed and Grant Thornton hoped to have the final review prepared by the end of the month. He said that the value for money report was underway and hoped to have the report prepared for the next committee meeting in January 2024.

Members asked if the colouring on page 12 of Grant Thorntons report could be changed to make the assessments clearer and easier to understand. Grant Thornton agreed to review the layout of their report so that it was easier to read and interpret.

Councillor Richard Palmer proposed the recommendations, and this was seconded by Councillor Dolley Wooster.

Resolved:

(1)   That the external Auditor’s Audit Findings Report (Appendix I to the report) be noted.

(2)   That the letter of Representation (Appendix II to the report) be approved on behalf of the Council.

(3)   That the Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31 March 2023 (Appendix III to the report), including the adjustments set out in the Audit Findings Report be approved.

(4)   That the Chief Executive and Leader sign the Annual Governance Statement for the year ended 31 March 2023.

(5)   That the Chair of the Audit Committee signs and dates the Annual Financial Report for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The Audit Planning Manager introduced the report which assured that the Committee had successfully monitored and addressed issues of governance, risk management and internal control throughout 2022/23.

The Chair thanked Councillor Derek Carnell for the hard work he had put into chairing the Audit Committee during the 2022/23 civic year and congratulated members of the Audit Committee for successfully carrying out the duties of the committee.

Councillor Chris Palmer proposed the recommendations, and this was seconded by Councillor Tara Noe.

Resolved:

(1)   That the Audit Committee Annual Report for 2022/23 (Appendix I of the report) be agreed.

(2)   That the Chair of Audit Committee presents the Audit Committee Annual Report 2022/23 to a meeting of Full Council to demonstrate how the Committee had discharged its duties.