Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Stephen Ross (Independent Co-opted Member, Councillor S.Butt and Councillor Smith. Councillor Molloy attended as an alternate for Councillor S.Butt.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

David Ewart (Chair) declared a personal interest as a member of CIPFA.

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

None.

To receive and review the London Borough of Brent and London Borough of Brent Pension Fund Audit Findings Report for 2022/23 in order to recommend approval to the Audit & Standards Committee for the signing off of the Statement of          Accounts.

*The agenda was re-published on 10 October 2023 to include the updated Audit Findings Report  and Annual Auditors Report.

Ben Ainsworth, Head of Finance introduced a report that provided the Committee with an update on the progress of the Statement of Accounts 2022/23 and the Audit Findings Report. The Committee was advised that the final checks were being made to the Statement of Accounts, with their completion anticipated within the next week. It was highlighted to the Committee that despite the minimal delays, Brent were in the advantageous position of being one of only a few authorities that had completed their accounts for 2022/23. Ciaran McLaughlin, Key Audit Partner, Grant Thornton, went on to highlight key points from the updated Audit Findings Report.

In considering the report the Committee noted the following:

• Previously pending queries in relation to Level 3 Valuations, the Housing Revenue Accounts and the General Fund had been reviewed and signed off.
• Queries relating to infrastructure assets had been satisfied in line with CIPFA guidance.
• Work had been undertaken in relation to PFI provision, some minor differences had been noted, however upon consulting with PFI modelling experts, auditors were satisfied that the information was materially correct, therefore a control point had been noted, but no amendments were necessary.
• No issues were identified that would impact on the independence of the report.

·                     The action plan in Appendix B of the Audit Findings Report identified 11 recommendations as a result of issues identified during the course of the audit. Auditors were satisfied with the management responses to these and progress against these issues would be reported during the 23/24 audit.

The Committee raised a number of queries in relation to the information heard, with the following responses provided:

• In response to a Committee query in relation to whether the auditors anticipated any further delays to the completion of the audit, the Committee was advised that no further delays were expected that would impede the signing of the accounts, however the Committee was reminded that a completion certificate could not be used until the outstanding objections had been resolved.
• Following a Committee query in relation to several recommendations identified in the Audit Findings Action Plan regarding the number of employees who had access to specific systems that could lead to enhanced fraud risk; the Committee was advised that officers had responded positively and had already actioned reducing the level of access to the identified systems.
• In relation to the medium risk identified that raised the issue of the high number of journals raised in November 2023, the Committee was advised that although identified as a medium risk, it was unlikely to present as an issue in future audits as it was the result of the Council trialling a different way of working. In future the Council would spread the creation and posting of journals to allow the Oracle system to be able to process and export the information sufficiently.
• Following a Committee query in relation to how the level of security was managed when staff access secure systems with sensitive information, the Committee was advised that controls around user  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or her representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

The Chair extended his thanks to the Brent Council Finance Team and the external auditors for their support in the progress made with the Statement of Accounts 2022-23, as it was noted that Brent was in the top 1% of local authorities in getting their accounts to this stage.  The Chair went on to give thanks and recognition to Ciaran McLaughlin, Key Audit Partner, Grant Thornton for his work with Brent as this would be his last meeting as Brent’s key audit partner.

The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 6 December 2023

The meeting closed at 7:13pm

David Ewart

Chair