Agenda item

This report provides an update on the progress made towards completing the annual statement of account.

The report will also include a verbal update from Grant Thornton as the Council’s external auditors, on developments relevant to Brent.

The Chair advised that the Council's draft Statement of Accounts and Annual Governance Statement had been published on the Council's website since 30 June 2026, in accordance with the statutory deadline, and encouraged members who had reviewed the accounts to submit detailed questions in advance to Ravinder Jasar (Deputy Director Corporate and Financial Planning), given that these could not all be addressed in the meeting itself.

Commenting further, Ravinder Jasar confirmed the Council had met its statutory duty to publish the accounts and Annual Governance Statement by 30 June 2026, and that this had been confirmed to MHCLG (the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), with the audit progressing well and broadly on track (in week six of a twelve-week programme).

Matt Dean (Key Audit Partner – Pension Fund, Grant Thornton), covering the update for both the Council and Pension Fund audits, reported that a different approach had been taken this year, with the first four weeks of the audit (the last two weeks of June and first two weeks of July) focused on sampling across all client areas, including previously challenged areas such as journals, PPE, and debtors and creditors. 274 individual sample items had been selected for testing, with 212 responses received to date; no errors had yet been identified, with a clearer picture expected within two to three weeks. Both audits were reported to remain on track for the Audit Findings Report to be brought to the 23rd of September 2026 meeting of the Committee.

Following the conclusion of the update, the Chair invited questions from Members of the Committee, with the following summarised below:

·            In noting Brent's history of delays in completing its accounts, members asked what assurance could be given that the remaining audit work would complete within the revised timetable, and what lessons had been learned to prevent future delays; Matt Dean confirmed he was as confident as possible at this stage, with the next few weeks expected to confirm whether any risk to the September timetable existed, and deferred further detail to Ravinder Jasar and Minesh Patel. Minesh Patel confirmed that the previous two years' delays had primarily related to weaknesses in asset records and valuations; an improvement programme had since been implemented, along with additional finance team resource, and the Council was on track (expected by August, and by September at the latest) for sign-off, with further detail to follow in the September 23rd Audit Findings Report.

·            Following on from this, it was asked whether all recommendations from previous external audit findings reports had been implemented, and which remained outstanding; Matt Dean confirmed this would be addressed recommendation-by-recommendation in the Audit Findings Report planned to be brought at the next meeting in September.

·            Regarding material changes in the accounts, it was asked what had materially changed since Grant Thornton's previous findings on recurring savings and medium-term financial planning, and whether every department now had a fully costed, deliverable savings plan supporting the MTFS. Matt Dean advised that the 2025-26 Value for Money conclusion was still in progress (the previous findings having related to the 2024-25 audit), with further detail to follow in the Auditor's Annual Report alongside the September Audit Findings Report. Ravinder Jasar added that the Council's Quarter 1 financial forecast report, published alongside Cabinet papers that day, set out the current position on the savings programme.

·            Moving on, members asked whether the Council's 5% contingency fund remained sufficient given rising demand-led pressures and ongoing uncertainty. Minesh Patel confirmed that a higher level of reserves would always be supported, but that the current position, reviewed annually as part of the budget process, felt appropriate at this time although this was subject to change dependent on perceived risk and the Council’s circumstances.

·            A question was posed to Grant Thornton, enquiring whether the approximately 50 outstanding sample items (of around 274 tested) were concentrated in a particular department; Matt Dean confirmed he did not have this detail to hand, was not aware of any specific bottlenecks, but would come back to the Committee.

·            Members queried as to whether the scope of the external audit had changed this year in a way that might risk delay. Matt Dean confirmed there had been no scope change; IFRS16 was now in its second year of implementation and no longer a new consideration, and while a change in the code moving asset valuations (in intervening years) to an indices-based approach was being introduced, the Council appeared to have managed this reasonably well so far, making this a comparatively stable year.

The Chair noted that, procedurally, the accounts were unlikely to be signed at the September meeting itself, but that approval was hoped for, with delegation to the Chair limited to final sign-off signatures once the audit had otherwise concluded. It was RESOLVED to note the report, with members encouraged to review the draft accounts and raise queries with Ravinder Jasar in advance of the September meeting.