Report by the Finance/Admin. Officer

                1. That Members note the recent legislative changes in audit requirements.

2. That Members direct Officers regarding the inclusion, or otherwise, of the FRS17 information in the   Statement of Accounts for 2006-2007 and subsequently.

1.1 For a number of years the standard of accounting and the presentation of the Annual Accounts have been governed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)’s Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom.

1.2 Unless stated otherwise, the accounts have always been consistent with the Code’s Statement of Recommended Practice (SoRP) and with CIPFA’s Best Value Accounting Code of Practice (BVACoP).

1.3 Until the year 2005-2006, following approval by Members the accounts have been audited by the Audit Commission. This audit has usually involved taking an overview of the summarised figures for the year and a more detailed examination of a selection of specific records.

1.4 Revisions to the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003, which came into effect on 1^st April 2006, have meant that the Committee (because its turnover is less than £1 million in a year) is no longer bound by the CIPFA requirements.

1.5 With effect from 2005-2006, the minimum audit requirement is now the completion of an Annual Return which is audited by the Audit Commission (see Agenda Item 15).

2.1 Although the CIPFA requirements no longer apply, the Accounts and Audit Regulations do place a duty on the Committee to determine, and to direct its Responsible Financial Officer, as to the form of accounts it wishes to have kept in order to support its internal controls and management arrangements.

2.2 It is Officers’ opinion that, with one major exception, the present system of financial recording and the information presented to Members in the Annual Statement of Accounts should remain basically unchanged.

2.3 Members may recall that, in November 2003, they agreed to exclude certain pensions disclosures (known as FRS17) from the Statement of Accounts. (For copy of Officer’s Report at the time – see Annex A). Subsequently, the Committee was obliged by the Audit Commission to include these figures and has done so since.

2.4 Costs of £6,100 have been incurred in the last three years simply to comply with this CIPFA requirement.

2.5 We no longer have a legal obligation to comply with this requirement, and Members may wish to instruct Officers accordingly.

JOHN DAVIES

Finance/Admin. Officer

21^st November 2006

There are no background papers to this report.

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