Issue - meetings

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented an update on the Council’s Finance Recovery Plan for Members’ attention.

Members were advised that the purpose of the report was to set out the processes the Council had been following to rectify a deterioration in its financial position and processes due to the impact of the implementation of a new financial system in February 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. This followed on from a report presented to Members on 14^th September 2022 and also the discussions over the external auditor’s Section 24 Statutory Recommendations for the Council that took place at meetings of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee, Executive Committee and Council in November and December 2022 and 2023.

A similar report had recently been presented to the Audit Governance and Standards Committee.  That Committee had been meeting six times a year since the Section 24 Recommendations were issued and would continue to do so until the issues were resolved. 

It was noted that the external auditor’s Value for Money Reports for 2021/22 and 2022/23 had been presented to both the Audit Governance and Standards Committee and Council before Christmas in 2023.   The Council had also received a follow up Corporate Peer Challenge report, taking into account progress made by the Council in respect of financial recovery, the contents of which had been presented to Council at a meeting held on 29^th January 2024.

The Executive Committee was informed that the most significant change in relation to closure was the advice from Government that all sets of accounts, up to the 2022/23 accounts, would need to be audited by a cut-off date of the 30^th September 2024.  The Council had undertaken the data take on balance reconciliations (a task that had been due to be delivered by the external auditors originally) and had presented this information.  By the date of the Executive Committee meeting, the Council was waiting for feedback from the external auditors in respect of this matter.

Other significant changes since the previous financial recovery update report included the following:

·       Updated 2022/23 Revenue Outturn Estimates had been presented to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

·       Updated 2022/23 Capital Outturn Estimates had been presented to DLUHC.

·       A Quarter 2 Finance and Performance Monitoring Report 2023/24 had been presented to the Executive Committee. This also included an update on Assets in respect of the issue of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

·       The existing eFin system had been upgraded to ensure full reporting was available going forward.

·       The 2021/22 Housing Benefits Audit had been signed off.

·       The Quarter 2 financial monitoring was undertaken on TechOne, not on spreadsheets, which Members were advised was a huge move forward in terms of systems use and increasing the financial awareness of budget managers and their administration staff.

·       Monthly Accounts Payable Training continued to be provided to staff.

·       Interviews had been held for the position of Head of Finance and Customer Services.  Ms Debbie Goodall had been appointed and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87