Issue - meetings

This report presents an indicative External Audit Plan for 2022/23. In accordance with audit regulations, this item must be presented to Committee.

The Committee received a report presenting an indicative External Audit Plan for 2022/23.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Significant Risks Identified. A Member of the Committee asked if there will be specific focus and extended concentration in the Audit Report regarding the areas identified as significant risk. The External Auditor confirmed that the Audit Plan is set out and has identified what Grant Thornton will do for the whole Audit process, including identifying some areas of focus which will have increased audit procedures carried out. The External Auditor informed the Committee that there is no specific concentration on any of the significant risks mentioned in the Audit Plan, they will just be picked up as part of the more focused areas of their work.

b)            Performance Materiality. A Member of the Committee asked for further information about the reduction in performance materiality, in comparison to the previous year, due to issues identified on page 29 of the report. The External Auditor responded to inform the Committee that the way Grant Thornton determine materiality is to think about the result of the past work, meaning if they've previously identified some corrected and uncorrected misstatements above a certain threshold, they will reduce materiality slightly. The External Auditor confirmed that last year, performance materiality was 75%, The External Auditor informed that Committee that he didn’t expect much to change in terms of their work and it would be similar for this year's audit.

c)            Land Valuation and Commercial Investments. A Member of the Committee asked when the Council’s properties were last valued. The Head of Finance informed the Committee that the valuation rolling five-year period means that every asset is valued at least once every five years. The Head of Finance went on to state that in practice, the properties are valued much more frequently because there is a responsibility in the accounts to report valuations that give a true and fair view. In the current economic environment, which is quite volatile, valuations are moving around more than they have done in the previous economic cycle, so properties are revalued more regularly than every five years. The Head of Finance confirmed that if the auditor thinks a property hasn’t been valued recently enough, they would usually raise that in their findings.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Receive the indicative External Audit Plan for 2022/23.