Issue - meetings

Report of the Financial Planning Manager

The Interim Director of Resources welcomed the External Auditors to the meeting.  He added that as the Financial Planning Manager was unfortunately not in attendance, any technical answers would be addressed outside of the meeting.

Mr S Gill, External Auditor, presented his report to Members highlighting the audit risks, judgements, key issues and recommendations.  He also informed Members that from the year 2017/18 there would be a new statutory requirement to produce a draft set of accounts earlier, this shortened the amount of time available to audit and would impact on the current accounting practices.  He concluded by thanking the Financial Planning Manager and her team for the work undertaken.

Councillor S Sheahan referred to the key issues within appendix one of the report and asked what the issue was regarding the cash flow.  He was concerned as it had been an issue for the past two years.  The Interim Director of Resources responded that he was unsure of the exact issue but he was aware that the Financial Planning Manager had taken steps to manage the cash flow but further information would be provided outside of the meeting.

Councillor F R D Fenning referred to recommendation three within appendix two of the report and questioned if the service was appropriately staffed due to the number of mistakes being made.  The Interim Director of Resources agreed to circulate information regarding how the overpayments of benefits was being addressed.  He added that recovery of overpayments were difficult for a number of reasons and there were also legal restrictions.  Councillor D Harrison also raised concerns as tax payers money was being mistakenly given away.  He asked for assurances that serious work was being undertaken to prevent this in the future.  The Interim Director of Resources reported that a large part of the overpayments was due to changes in claimants’ personal circumstances rather than errors being made by staff and once again referred to the further information he would be circulating.

Councillor S Sheahan questioned when Universal Credit would be introduced in the district and asked for assurances that the authority was prepared.  The Interim Director of Resources responded that preparations were being made and there was a session planned with the Department of Work and Pensions to assist with dealing with the change.  He confirmed that it would be introduced in parts of the district in 2018, with full implementation in 2019.  He also suggested that a report considered by the Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on this matter be circulated to Members.

Councillor D Harrison commented that people were now worried about the pension deficit and asked how the authority was planning on dealing with the issue.  The Interim Director of Resources reported that the authority had recently received information to confirm that there were pressures but it was being managed and therefore no action was required at the moment.

Councillor S McKendrick referred to the coming changes in accounting practices for the year 2017/18 and asked if the staff were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12