The committee received reports from the Head of Finance and the council’s external auditor, EY.

The Head of Finance informed members that the Annual Governance Statement was unchanged from the draft version.  There had been one change to the Statement of Accounts which was an amendment to the pension figures.  Officers were still awaiting information from the actuaries as to the exact impact of legal rulings about public sector pensions.

Jo Taylor, from EY, then provided an overview of the external auditor’s ‘Audit Results Report’.  She advised that there were still a few things to complete, one of which had been in connection with Watford Health Campus Partnership LLP.  The audit returns had only just been received from PWC; these would need to be checked before the final report could be issued.  It had been noted that the completion of Croxley Business Park had only just been done and therefore was not relevant to the 2018/19 financial statement.  The advice and procedure into the acquisition had been checked and the correct process had been followed.  She finished by stating that the audit fee had been reduced from previous years.  The report included a copy of the council’s management representation letter, which would be signed by the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Finance, and the chair of Audit Committee.

The Head of Finance wished to record thanks to the team from EY for their work in auditing the council’s financial processes.  She added that a lot of work had been done to get the audited accounts from PWC in time.

It was acknowledged that all local authorities had to complete their Statement of Accounts by 31 July.  This meant that the external auditors had a great deal of work to complete in conjunction with local authorities between 1 April and 31 July.

RESOLVED –

1.      that the Annual Governance Statement be approved.

2.      that the 2018/19 Statement of Accounts be approved.

3.      that the Watford Borough Council Audit Result report for year ended 31 March 2019, produced by EY, be noted.