To consider the update from Deloitte on the progress of the accounts for both 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Jonathan Gooding updated the Committee on the accounts and explained that the 2019/20 accounts were almost complete and that there was very little left to finish. The key element which had taken time was the investigation of the objections, 22 objections had been made of which 6 had been taken forward as formal objections to the accounts. This was a relatively high number nationally compared to other local authorities. The last stage of the process was for Deloitte to share its final conclusion letter with the Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited Company, who would review the letters sent to objectors and provide comments. It was hoped these letters and comments would be shared with objectors next week. Once Deloitte had finalised the accounts, they would be in a position to be signed off. It was anticipated that the 2019/20 accounts would be completed by the end of March 2022.

Considering the 2020/21 accounts, Jonathan Gooding said that there was more work to be done but the accounts were well progressed. There had been a number of potential objections which needed to be worked through, it was anticipated that this review would be done in March and April. Additional resources could be allocated to these accounts in July and August, with a view for the accounts potentially being completed by the end of August. Deloitte would then move on to the 2021/22 accounts, which had a deadline of November 2022. Deloitte had an aim to complete the audit by this deadline.

Councillor L Jones commented on a statement made in the report, that two factors had been identified by Deloitte during their audit work. She asked what impact these factors would have on the completion of the accounts.

Andrew Vallance, Head of Finance, said that the main change was that the statement had been split, so that the authority only statement was now separate to the group statements. Associates had been classified as joint ventures.

Adele Taylor said that if changes were made, the accounts would be updated. The accounts remained open for a short period of time for these changes to be made.

Jonathan Gooding said that expectations could change over time, Deloitte revisited its work to ensure that best practise was up to date.

Councillor Johnson joined the meeting.

Councillor L Jones commented on the council’s ‘historic presentation of other operating income and expenditure’ and asked if it was revenue expenditure from capital and that this had been moved to cost of services. Councillor L Jones said that she would take this offline to understand this further.

Adele Taylor said at the point of accounts being resigned, officers would explain where any changes had happened and why they had happened.

Councillor Bhangra asked what was classed as a formal objection.

Jonathan Gooding explained that the National Audit Office produced guidance on the criteria for an eligible objection. Deloitte often received communication from the public but an objection had to meet certain criteria for it to be taken forward. Examples included that the member of the public was a resident of the borough, whether the objection related to something in the public interest and whether it related to something in the accounts that could be investigated.

The Chairman asked about the cost of the audit and requested that further information was shared with the Committee.

Councillor L Jones said that this figure would be useful to have for the next Committee meeting in May.

Jonathan Gooding expected that the final report would include the cost of the work incurred by Deloitte, which outlined the hours of work, at a specified rate and also included any additional legal work.

Adele Taylor added that RBWM officer time could also be included, which would be an estimation of the amount of work spent on the accounts.

Councillor Hilton, Cabinet Member for Finance and Ascot, asked for clarification on if Jonathan Gooding had said that hundreds of councils across the country had received objections to their own accounts.

Jonathan Gooding clarified that of all the local authorities across the country, there was a relatively small number of objections.

Councillor Hilton additionally asked if Deloitte would provide any comments or analysis of the objections which had been made.

Jonathan Gooding said that in the final report the objections would be summarised along with the findings from those objections.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Audit and Governance Committee noted the update report from Deloitte on the progress of the accounts for 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22.