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The Treasurer introduced the External Auditors' reports for consideration and the Letter of Representation for approval.
The External Auditors, Grant Thornton, then explained in detail the work they do around the accounts and the value for money. The main headline was Covid-19 where the impact was considered, remote working had brought challenges and therefore some audits had taken longer than normal which could have an impact on fees.
They were pleased to report that the pre audit financial Statement of Accounts were published on 29 May, which was well before the revised deadline and thanked the Finance team for a good quality set of accounts with only a few amendments required.
The External Auditors concluded that the work was complete and they were in a position to provide an un-qualified opinion on the Accounts with a clean Value for Money judgement in due course.
[Cllr Bowen joined the meeting at 10.51am].
RESOLVED that:
i) the Audit Progress Report and the Sector Update 2019/20 be noted;
ii) the External Audit Findings Report 2019/20 including an unqualified opinion on the 2019/20 accounts be noted; and
iii) the Letter of Representation be approved on behalf of the Authority.