Agenda item

An update from External Auditor, Deloitte.

The Chair invited Homira Javadi to introduce the report.

Homira Javadi outlined the officer recommendations, highlighting that the recommendation for the Committee to delegate authority to the Chief Finance Officer (CFO), as Section 151 Officer, and in consultation with the Chair, to sign-off the audited 2019/20 Statement of Accounts would only stand if there was no change to the existing expectation for an unqualified (in the case of Value for Money) and unmodified opinion.

The Chair then invited comment from Ben Sherriff and Tanya Chikari, attending as representatives for external auditors, Deloitte.

Ben Sherriff, Deloitte, summarised the recent reports from Deloitte regarding the outstanding items, as noted in its ISA 260 report to the Committee in November, and provided an update on the progress of those items. He concluded that nothing had been found that Deloitte did not have confidence would be addressed in order to issue a clean, completed, unqualified opinion.

The Committee considered the report.

In the course of the following discussions, Ben Sheriff, Deloitte, confirmed that the only outstanding action was Deloitte’s own internal peer review process and that no material questions remained.

Ben Sheriff re-affirmed that he expected the 2019-20 accounts would be considered unmodified, and unqualified for the value for money element, and explained that the opinion was as positive as audit terminology got.

Officers and Deloitte representatives confirmed that Deloitte’s working practices meant that work on the next set of accounts, for 2020-2021, would not commence until after the Statement of Accounts for 2019-20 had been signed off. Without delegation, this would mean the 2019-20 Accounts would not be signed off until the Committee met again, on 28 June 2023.

Members expressed disappointment and frustration that, despite Deloitte’s assurances at the November meeting, the Statement of Accounts was still not ready to be signed off at this meeting.  Deloitte declined the Committee’s request to provide a specific date for completion.

The Chair thanked Ben Sherriff and Tanya Chikari for attending and invited them to leave the meeting.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

1.    To note the Independent Auditor’s (Deloitte) report as those charged with governance on EBC Accounts, and the Value for Money conclusion report.

2.    To delegate authority to the Director of Finance and Performance (Chief Finance Officer – S151 Officer) in consultation with the Chair of the Committee to sign-off the audited Eastbourne Borough Council 2019/20 Statement of Accounts, on condition that the expected unmodified, unqualified opinion did not change.

3.    To authorise the Director of Finance and Performance (Chief Finance Officer – S151 Officer) to sign the formal Letter of Representation to Deloitte.

An additional recommendation was proposed by Councillor Diplock and seconded by Councillor Shore

RESOLVED (unanimously)

4.    That two letters should be issued from the Chair, one to the Minister of State, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rachel Maclean MP, and one to the Chair of Audit at Deloitte, to express the disappointment at the situation regarding the backlog of External Audits.

The CFO assured Members that they would be informed as soon as the Statement of Accounts had been signed.