Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M I Raja, Puneet Jasuja and Annie Ren.

(i)         To receive declarations of interest from Members and Officers in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

(ii)        In accordance with the Officer Employment Procedure Rules, the Strategic Director - Corporate Resources, Kevin Foster declares a disclosable personal interest (non-pecuniary) in any items concerning the companies of which he is a Council-appointed director.  The companies are listed in the attached schedule.  The interests are such that Mr Foster may advise on those items.

In accordance with the Officer Employment Procedure Rules, the Strategic Director - Corporate Resources, Kevin Foster declared a disclosable personal interest (non-pecuniary) in any items concerning the companies of which he is a Council-appointed director.  The interests were such that Mr Foster could advise on those items.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

Reporting Person – Stephen Fitzgerald

The Chairman welcomed Carol Culley, Lead Commissioner for Finance, to the meeting.  Carol Culley introduced her report and apologised for it being circulated earlier in the day.  Councillor Rice stated that in light of good governance it should have been supplied earlier and asked why it had not been provided closer to the backstop arrangements legislation.  Carol Culley stated that the paper reflected the latest discussions which had taken place and introduced the report, which set out national issues affecting the Local Audit regime; the national arrangements to clear the backlog in English local authority audits; the position for Woking Borough Council and the length of time it would likely take to get to a clean set of accounts.

The Committee was advised that re-stating the historic accounts for the changes in Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy, updating the reserves position and other amendments highlighted in the Section 114 notice was complex.  The re-stating of the 2023/24 accounts was supported by Commissioners and would provide a baseline for working back as required along with producing the 2024/25 accounts.  Consolidated group accounts would be prepared for 2023/24 onwards and would start to re-build confidence in the Council’s financial position.

It was stated the Council was caught between two pieces of legislation:  the requirement to bring accounts forward in time for the backstop (13 December 2024), and the requirement for the Chief Finance Officer to certify that they provided a true and fair view.  It was added that having accounts signed off was a prerequisite for the audit process.  Carol Culley had requested a detailed update from BDO on the outstanding issues and how these would fit in with the backstop legislation.  The Council was also constrained by not having the capacity to devote time to historic accounts that would never be audited, which could impact the production of 2023/24 and 2024/25 sole entity and group accounts.

An email had been received from BDO which stated that it would be difficult for the Auditor to give an opinion without group accounts, although the Commissioners believed the right approach would be to progress sole entity accounts for approval for those years.  BDO had also stated that their Opinion could not be issued until the accounts had been approved.  Commissioners endorsed the view that there would need to be a supporting statement setting out that the accounts had been prepared in the context of the policies in place and the information available at the time.  However, due to uncertainty around the legal position, appropriate King’s Counsel advice was being sought to support the recommendations and any decision by Council, which would need to be received prior to Full Council on 12 December 2024.

Finally, the report highlighted a timeline to achieve a clean set of accounts, which for Woking would likely be 2027/28, although could be delayed if further time was required to be spent by the finance team on the historic accounts.  The Committee was assured that the Commissioners were working with all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Attached is the Work Programme and Committee Action Tracker report deferred from the previous meeting held on 21 November 2024.

Reporting Persons – Stephen Fitzgerald and Adesuwa Omoregie

The Committee received the Work Programme and Committee Action Tracker, deferred from the meeting on 21 November.

The Chairman reported that there had been three items to consider from the November meeting:  the benefit of receiving the Annual Governance Statement in some form at every meeting as a living document, a potential meeting with Grant Thornton relating to the Public Interest Report; and the reporting of governance aspects of the Improvement and Recovery Plan.  A session was also being arranged for the holding of an Internal Audit workshop with Forvis Mazars on 27 January 2024, followed by a discussion on training needs with the Council’s appointed LGA adviser.  The Chairman stated that two actions were stated to have arisen from the meeting:  the Internal Audit Charter to come back to the Committee; and for the Section 151 Officer to liaise with those in the same role in some other authorities which were in an exceptional financial situation.

Councillor Rice requested that the Work Programme and Committee Action Tracker be received at the start of each meeting.

Adesuwa Omoregie stated that a Review of the Terms of Reference would be received at the February meeting.  The Chairman added that it was important to have some consistency in the Committee membership as well as a healthy turnover.

RESOLVED

That the Work Programme and Committee Action Tracker be noted.

As it was Claire Storey’s last meeting, Members and Officers recorded their thanks to Claire for her significant work on the Committee and for the wider Council.  Claire had joined the Committee in May 2007 and had become Chairman from May 2008, which was agreed to be an impressive period of service.  The Committee wished Claire all the very best in the future.

RESOLVED

That a Vote of Thanks be accorded to Claire Storey.