Agenda item

A.4/18            

The Committee considered a report that presented the draft Statement of Accounts and the draft Annual Governance Statement for the financial year ended 31 March 2018.

In discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)  Those Members in attendance paid tribute to the achievements of the Finance Community Of Practice in meeting the requirement to publish the Council’s Accounts a month earlier than in 2016/17;

(b)  With regard to the main budget variations identified in 2017/18, Members recognised that some of the % differentials were very significant.  In particular, a Member identified the 60% shortfall in anticipated trade waste income and asked for a further explanation.  In so doing, it was requested that greater explanation of the significant variations be given outside of this meeting and it was therefore agreed that a Briefing Paper would be produced and circulated to the Committee;

(c)  For clarity, officers confirmed that the reduction in ‘long-term revenue grant receipts in advance (Section 106 Deposits)’ reflected the fact that the Council had exercised its right to take a one-off 5% admin fee from this source;

(d)  A Member commented that the mortality assumptions seemed to be very high, which would have a consequent impact upon pension liabilities.  In reply, it was noted that clarity had been sought on this point from Barnett Waddingham (an independent firm of actuaries), who had advised that the assumptions reflected the fact that people in the Devon Local Government Pensions Scheme statistically lived longer than the rest of the country;

(e)  In noting that the ‘Business Rates Receivable’ had fallen by £1 million in comparison to the previous year, a Member questioned whether this was part of a worrying trend whereby a number of local businesses were closing.  In reply, officers informed that this was due to 2017/18 being a re-evaluation year for Business Rates, with the outcome of this review being that an increased number of small businesses were entitled to receive rate relief;

(f)   A Member expressed his surprise at the general lack of reference in the documents to the ‘One Council’ decisions.  Whilst noting its reference in the narrative statement, such were the intrinsic links between the Council and West Devon Borough Council (WDBC) that the financial standing and performance of WDBC were a direct risk to the Council that should not be underestimated.  As a result, the Committee requested that this point be incorporated into the Council’s Risk Register.  Furthermore, the Chairman advised the Committee that WDBC was currently at risk of its planning service being designated by the Government and this was felt to be an example of why the Committee needed to closely monitor the performance of WDBC;

(g)  For clarity, the Committee asked that the Annual Governance Statement be amended to clarify that the detailed delivery plans that sit beneath the Corporate Strategy themes were still to be developed.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the Draft Statement of Accounts and the Draft Annual Governance Statement for the financial year ended 31 March 2018 be noted;

2.     That the Council notify the Department for Work and Pensions that it will appoint KPMG as their appointed Reporting Accountant for 2018-19 for the Housing Benefit Subsidy Claim (as set out in Section 4 of the presented agenda report);

3.     That officers produce a Briefing Paper for Members that provides a greater explanation of those significant main variations to the Budget in 2017/18.