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

Jonathan Gooding, Deloitte, provided an update on the 2019/20 accounts and the audit of the pension fund. Work was largely complete with objections having been completed and Deloitte had issued their letters to the objectors. There was a key point around infrastructure assets and there was a nationwide issue around infrastructure accounting. CIPFA were currently investigating the issue, with the consultation expected to conclude in June. Deloitte were discussing with the RBWM finance team how to best deal with the change in guidance. Subject to the infrastructure matter being resolved, the 2019/20 accounts would be completed shortly.

For 2020/21, the pension fund audit was largely complete with the plan being to complete the full audit by the end of August. On the authority audit, there was still some outstanding work to complete. Deloitte were aiming to complete the 2021/22 audit by the deadline of November.

Councillor Hilton, Cabinet Member for Asset Management & Commercialisation, Finance and Ascot, asked for clarification that the 2019/20 audit was concluded other than how Deloitte would manage asset values.

Jonathan Gooding confirmed that was correct.

Councillor L Jones asked what the timescale was for the infrastructure issue to be resolved and if Deloitte were reliant on another organisation to solve the issue.

Jonathan Gooding explained that the timetable for CIPFA was outside of Deloitte’s control. The consultation was due to be concluded in June, Jonathon Gooding was hopeful that the new guidance would be available towards the end of June. Deloitte had to consider whether it was appropriate to conclude before that changing guidance had been issued. RBWM had been providing additional information in this area.

Councillor L Jones said that she was aware of a number of local authorities that had already concluded their 2019/20 accounts. She asked why RBWM needed to wait until the new guidance was issued, why could they not conclude the accounts now and then apply the new guidance going forward.

Jonathan Gooding said that this was a sector wide issue, there was concern about the variable amount of infrastructure assets on the balance sheet nationally and whether disposals were being correctly recorded. CIPFA were working on a change to the guidance to solve the issue and this could change the auditors opinion of the accounts, which was why it was important that the accounts were not concluded too early.

Adele Taylor, Executive Director of Resources, said that it applied to any set of accounts that were still open. Officers did not want to duplicate work on the accounts and the guidance would also have an impact on the 2020/21 and 2021/22 accounts. The infrastructure assets included things like highways and roads, with some of the record keeping even pre-dating some local authorities.

Councillor Bond asked if the council would be responding to the CIPFA consultation. Due to this change in circumstances, he asked if Deloitte still felt the November deadline was achievable for the 2021/22 accounts.

Adele Taylor said that the council would respond to the consultation, it would also be discussed at the meeting of Berkshire S151 officers. She did not envisage this being an issue for the 2021/22 accounts, it was important to get the correct resolution now so that could feed through into future years accounts.

Councillor Sharpe asked how many other local authorities were also affected by this.

Andrew Vallance, Head of Finance, confirmed that it had affected all upper tier local authorities, regardless of which accounting year the authority was currently trying to conclude. The CIPFA consultation was on a temporary solution, so they would need to come up with a permanent solution or the issue could appear again in future.

Councillor Hilton commented that the impact on the accounts was relatively small and the main issue was a delay to concluding the accounts.

Adele Taylor said it was a technical adjustment to the accounts and agreed that the main issue was the timing had been delayed.

Councillor Bhangra asked if RBWM was subject to any penalties for not submitting the accounts on time.

Adele Taylor confirmed that there were no penalties, she needed to keep writing to government departments to confirm details around grants and provide updates on the progress of the accounts.