The Interim Group Manager – Chief Accountant submitted a report, in order to present to the Committee the unaudited Statement of Accounts for the above period for noting.

He advised that the preparation of the Statement of Accounts is a requirement of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 (as amended 2018) and its content is defined by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s ‘Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom’ (the Code).

In accordance with these regulations, the unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2019-20 required approval and signature by the responsible finance officer by 15 June 2020, certifying that it presents a true and fair view of the financial position of the Council. The audited Statement of Accounts then has to be approved by 15 September 2020 by the Audit Committee in accordance with the Committee’s Terms of Reference. If the accounts are not able to be signed and published by this date then the Council must publish a Regulation 10 notice setting out the reasons why.

The Interim Group Manager – Chief Accountant confirmed, that as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Council was unable to meet the 15 June 2020 deadline and therefore, in line with the requirements of the Regulations, issued a notice advising of this. The unaudited accounts were signed by the responsible finance officer on 30 June 2020, and sent to Audit Wales the same day.

The Council’s unaudited Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, was attached at Appendix A to the report.

He then proceeded to give a power point presentation for Members that highlighted some key information from the Statement of Accounts 2019-20, for the benefit of Members, as well as expanding upon some of the key financial information that was illustrated in the main report.

A Member noted from the report, that it appeared the Authority had been underspending in terms of its Budget.

The Interim Deputy Head of Finance reminded Committee that as part of the  Revenue Budget, quarterly Monitoring reports were submitted to both Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Committees and these set out the detail in respect of each of the Directorates that made up the Council, outlining areas where there were overspends and underspends in Council wide service areas that comprised each Directorate.

An Financial Outturn report was submitted to Cabinet on 30 June 2020 and in terms of Council wide budgets, this report reflected a significant underspend in the region of nearly £3m unanticipated funding for Teachers pay/pensions and Fire Service staff pensions, that the Authority had built into its own budget. However, this level of funding had subsequently been received from Welsh Government. Therefore, the extra £3m had therefore been allocated into a Capital Fund for investing in communities.

A Member asked Officers when they considered that the settlement for 2021-2022 would be received given that it was late this year.

The Interim Head of Finance, Performance and Change, advised that this was estimated to be received in the autumn of this year, ie with firstly a draft Statement in October. Though this timetable depended upon other factors, most notably the ongoing situation regarding Covid-19. The final settlement would, if all went to plan, then be received around December.

She stressed however that these dates were estimated only as opposed to being firm.        

RESOLVED:                      That Members noted both the Presentation together with the Unaudited Statement of Accounts 2019-20 (Appendix A to the report).