Accounts and Governance Committee Minutes: 25 March 2010

Present:

Agc/32/3/10 Apologies for Absence

Apologies for Absence had been received from Councillors: R Burgin, G Nicholson, J Lowis and H Harrison. Councillor Eyles attended as a deputy for Councillor R Burgin, Councillor J Thompson attended as a deputy for Councillor J Lowis and Councillor G Savage attended as a deputy for Councillor H Harrison.

Agc/33/3/10  Minutes

Minutes .Agc/22/12/09 to Agc/31/12/09 of the meeting of this Committee held on 10 December 2009 were approved as a correct record of those proceedings.

Agc/34/3/10  Declarations of Interest

None

Agc/34/3/10 Statement of Accounting Policies 2009-2010

The Committee considered report F18/10 of the Director of Finance which requested Members to approve the Statement of Accounting Policies will be included in the Statement of Accounts for the 2009-10 financial year.

The Statement of Accounting Policies defines the way that the accounts are presented and determines some of the major calculations undertaken in the preparation of the accounts.

RESOLVED that the Statement of Accounting Policies be Approved (attached to these minutes as Appendix 1 (PDF 77 Kb / 9 pages))

Agc/35/3/10 Implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

The Committee considered report F21/10 of the Director of Finance which sought approval of the draft Balance Sheet and endorsement of the work undertaken in preparation for the introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

It had been announced by the Chancellor in 2007 and 2008 that IFRS would be introduced to harmonise accounting worldwide to increase consistency and transparency in Accounting Standards throughout the public and private sectors. IFRS must be fully applied in the production of the 2020-11 accounts. To ensure these accounts are complete it is necessary for the 2008-9 and 2009-10 accounts to be restated for comparative purposes. A draft IFRS balance sheet as at 31 March 2009 had been produced.

The Total Reserves shown on the draft balance sheet included an accrual for untaken leave as required by IFRS. This resulted in a difference of £53,000 between the new Total Reserves figure (under IFRS) and the previous Total Net Worth figure (under the UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

RESOLVED that:

1. The draft 2008-9 IFRS restated Balance Sheet IFRS be approved. (attached to these minutes as Appendix 2 (PDF 21 Kb / 1 page))
2. The work undertaken in preparation for the introduction of IFRS be endorsed.

Agc/36/3/10 Internal Audit - Completed Audit Reports

The Committee considered report F22/10 of the Director of Finance which advised Members of the findings and recommendations of reports that had recently been completed by the Council’s internal audit service.

RESOLVED that the report be noted

Agc/37/3/10 Implementation of Internal Audit Recommendations

The Committee considered report F23/10 of the Director of Finance which set out the progress on implementing the agreed recommendations from internal audit reports.

RESOLVED that the progress against agreed recommendations be noted

Agc/38/3/10 Annual Report on Certification of Claims and Returns 2008-2009

The Committee considered report F24/10 of the Director of Finance which set out the report of the Council’s external auditor (the Audit Commission) on grant claims in 2008-09.

The Council has two major grant claims which require auditing each year on account of their size, these are: the Business Rate claim and the Housing and Council Tax benefits claim. The grant from the North West Development Agency for the Penrith Market Towns’ Initiative grant had also been audited.

The auditors had judged that the two main claims were of a good standard. The Benefits claim was ‘qualified’ but this was not unusual countrywide and had resulted from the DWP issuing guidance to the Council that was contrary to the guidance that had been issued to the Audit Commission.

The NWDA claim had posed a number of difficulties and had been reported for consideration to the Grant Paying Body. The NWDA had confirmed that no further action would be taken.

RESOLVED that the report be noted

Agc/39/3/10 Internal Audit: Annual Review of Terms of Reference

The Committee considered report F25/10 of the Director of Finance which presented for approval the Terms of Reference for the Council’s internal audit service.

Proper internal audit practices are those set out in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice (2006) for Internal Audit in Local Government.

The Terms of Reference to meet the 2006 code were agreed at the Governance Panel on 26 March 2009. They are reviewed annually. There had been some minor amendments to the Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED that the Internal Audit Terms of Reference be approved

Agc/40/3/10 Date of Next Scheduled Meeting

The Committee was informed that the next scheduled meeting of the Accounts and Governance Committee will be held on 30 June 2010

The meeting closed at 7.20pm