Issue - meetings

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit Committee held on 11 February, 2020.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 11 February, 2020 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 11 February, 2020 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

Arising thereon –

The Committee sought an update on the availability of the report of Audit Wales on the financial sustainability of the Council which was one of 22 such assessments of local authorities in Wales being undertaken by the Audit Wales. The Director of Function (Resources)/ Section 151 Officer advised that the first draft of the report was received for factual verification in late January/early February following which a second version updated to reflect the comments made was received towards the end of March, 2020 at the outset of the lockdown period after which it was set aside as the Council moved to respond to the emerging Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The Officer confirmed that the second draft was cleared for acceptance last week and that it is anticipated that the formal report will be published definitively in the near future. In terms of substance, the report which was more advisory in nature and compared local authority practice and approach, has been overtaken by events with the situation having changed significantly since the draft version was issued. One of the points raised with regard to Anglesey Council was its level of financial reserves which at the time was expected to reduce further but which has since improved as the Statement of Accounts testifies to. Additionally, the Council’s lack of commercial income was noted although it was recognised that the opportunities available to the Council for generating such income was limited compared to larger councils in urban areas. The Officer commented that  given the situation in which councils now find themselves, the fact that the Council in Anglesey is not reliant for its financial well-being on commercial income might prove an advantage as those income streams have greatly reduced in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. However, the Council is likely to be affected financially by the Covid-19 pandemic including by a loss of income.