Issue - meetings

To present the report of the Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

Having considered the report, it was resolved to note the draft unaudited main financial statements for 2019/20.

ADDITIONAL ACTIONS PROPOSED :

•           The Local Code of Governance to be presented to the Committee in due course prior to its being reviewed and updated.

•           The Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager to ask the Chief Executive/SLT to consider the propriety of inviting the Committee’s 2 Lay Members to the monthly all-member briefing sessions on major developments.

The report of the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officers incorporating the draft pre-audit Statement of the Accounts for the 2019/20 financial year along with the draft Governance Statement for 2019/20 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer prefaced his presentation of the draft Statement of Accounts by thanking the Finance Service’s Accounts team for their work in successfully completing the draft accounts in line with the statutory deadline which since last year has been brought forward to the 15 June. The task this year has been made especially difficult by circumstances with the majority of staff working remotely from their homes because of the pandemic as well as contributing to the Covid-19 crisis response. The Statement of Accounts has been prepared and set out in accordance with accounting regulations and practices and is produced annually to give electors, local taxpayers, Members of the Council, employees and other interested parties information about the Council’s finances and how it spends public money. The Statement in setting out  information about the financial performance of the Council in a way prescribed by accounting regulations is a long and a complex document and despite the need for simplification being highlighted with CIPFA the format remains unchanged from last year.

The Officer referred to the Explanatory Narrative Report which provides background information about the Isle of Anglesey County Council and sets its financial performance in the context of the year’s key achievements, issues, challenges and risks. In 2019/20, the Council reported an underspend of £0.308k against a planned activity of £135.210m (net budget) and achieved £2.205m of savings. The table at 3.4.1 reflects the final budget for 2019/20 and actual income and expenditure against it. The impact of the underspend means that the Council increased its general reserves by £0.308k to £7.060m which is 4.9% of its net revenue budget for 2020/21. The Capital Budget was underspent in the year with the total spend amounting to £30.015m against a total Capital Budget for 2019/20 of £43.907m. The subsequent main financial statements comprise the following –

•           Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement (page 21 of the accounts) – shows the cost of providing the Authority’s services during the year in accordance with accounting practices rather than the amount to be funded from taxation hence the figure of  £28.161m surplus. The amount that is chargeable to council tax requires a number of adjustments which are explained in Note 1a (Note to the Expenditure and Funding Analysis 2019/20) and Note 7 (Adjustments between accounting basis and funding basis under regulations).The CIES also shows gains or losses with regard to the authority’s assets and liabilities including pension liability and changes as a result of the revaluation of assets.

•           Summary of Movements in Council Reserves (page 23 of the accounts) – shows the movement in the year on the different reserves held by the Council analysed between usable and unusable reserves. The Council’s General Fund Balance stood at £7.06m at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4