Issue - meetings

The Head of Audit and Assurance briefed the Committee on the main points of the report on the Redmond Review of Local Authority Financial Reporting and External Audit. The Committee noted that the report set down the results of the Redmond Review and that there were a number of recommendations in the report which may impact on the Council in the future.

The Head of Audit and Assurance explained that the Redmond Review was one of four reviews that had taken place recently, which examined the transparency and efficiency of external audit within the UK. It also examined whether or not external auditors had been properly identifying those local authorities that were in financial difficulties soon enough. It looked at issues like whether or not the current system was fit for purpose and if the public had lost faith in the external audit process.

The Head of Audit and Assurance referred Members to section 9.3 of the Redmond Report which stated that audit work was currently under-resourced and that to address this weakness, a fundamental review of the fee structure was necessary. The report noted that evidence had suggested that audit fees were at least 25% lower than was required to fulfil current local audit requirements effectively. It was also pointed out in the report that the current deadline of the 31st of July was viewed as being unrealistic--there was a compelling argument to change this date to the 30th  September.

Some of the new regulations could be implemented without legislation, except for the recommendation that a new Regulator be established. 

The Head of Audit and Assurance explained that with regard to the recommendations in the report, it was expected that the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government would need to respond. It was recommended that an annual report from the external auditors should be submitted to Full Council after the 30th of September. A key recommendation that was of interest to the Audit Sub-Committee was the recommendation to consider whether or not one independent member with sufficient training and expertise should sit on local audit committees to aid in support and scrutiny. There was also a recommendation that the Head of Paid Service, the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer should meet with one of the key partners from external audit on a regular basis.

The report also recommended that a simplified breakdown of costs and services statement should be made available to the public, and that this should be subject to audit. The intention was that this would be trialled next year without being audited, and then the following year it would be published in a similar manner to other audited statements.

The Head of Audit and Assurance asked the Committee how they would like to progress the issue regarding recruiting an independent member to the sub- committee.

The Chairman asked the Head of Audit and Assurance if the extended deadline for the publication of accounts could result in reduced audit fees. The Head of Audit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55