Agenda item

Report of the Head of Finance (Section 151 Officer).

(Including Appendix 1, published on 24 July 2019)

The Head of Finance (Section 151 Officer) submitted a report on the Statement of Accounts, following the completion of the audit, and the final capital and revenue position for the financial year 2018/19. She said that when the Statement of Accounts had been approved by the Committee it would be signed by the Chairman of the Committee and herself, as Chief Financial Officer, and would then be published on the Council’s website.

The Head of Finance introduced the report and explained the format of the Statement of Accounts. She referred, in particular, to the introductory, contextual and background information in the narrative report, the various detailed financial statements set out in Appendices 1 to 4b and the recommendations to the Committee in paragraph 3 of the covering report.  She reminded Members that they had received training on the format and content of these documents when the unaudited accounts had been submitted to the Audit Committee on 18 June.

As in previous years, in order to assist with the interpretation of the report and to demonstrate robust Member scrutiny prior to approval, the Head of Finance submitted a set of Questions and Answers (attached as an annex to these minutes), which highlighted a number of issues arising from the accounts. The Head of Finance and the Deputy Head of Finance drew attention in particular to the following questions and answers:

-       Q1(non-financial information)

-       Q2 (revenue variances)

-       Q3 (car parking fee income)

-       Q7 (income from planning fees)

-       Q9 (audit, risk and insurance activity and the Audit Plan)

-       Q10 (council tax summons fee income)

-       Q16 (pre-payment of employers pension contributions)

-       Q17 (revenue slippage)

-       Q18 (three highest areas of revenue slippage – employee budgets, Care     and Repair Handyperson Service and homelessness costs)

-       Q19 amount of revenue balances)

-       Q21 (spending on Culture and Leisure facilities and susidy level trends)

-       Q25, Q26 and Q27 (Different purposes of and links between the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement, the Narrative Report and the Expenditure and Funding Analysis Note)

-       Q36 (earmarked reserves – vehicle replacement/street cleansing maintenance)

-       Q31 (earmarked reserve – Enterprise Zone growth)

-       Q32 (reduced deficit on Marine Hall catering and future plans)

-       Q33 (trading operations – Fleetwood Market)

-       Q37 (confirmation that there are no outstanding actions remaining from the 2017/18 audit).

Members of the Committee asked questions and made comments, as the Statement of Accounts was considered, supported by the questions and answers document, including references to the following issues:

-       Income from cemeteries.

-       The possible use of revenue slippage for repairs required to the Memorial Park fountain.

-       Marine Hall maintenance and operational costs.

-       The possible impact of anticipated new retail developments on car park income in Poulton.

-       The implications of fluctuations in planning fee income on staffing expenditure in the Planning Team;

-       The effectiveness of the Localised Council Tax Support Scheme in helping people on low income pay their council tax bills and the impact on the level of debt owed to the Council.

-       The impact of difficulties with the implementation of Universal Credit/Housing Benefit on the delivery of the Council’s bond guarantee scheme.

-       The way in which New Homes Bonus received from the Government is used.

-       The allocation of financial contributions made to the Council under Section 106 Legal Agreements linked to planning approvals.

-       The progress made in reducing subsidy levels to leisure centres.

-       The possible implications of measures to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change on the Council’s income and expenditure.

Agreed:

1. That the Accounting Policies selected and applied by the Council (as required by International Accounting Standard No. 8: Accounting Policies, Changing in Accounting Estimates and Errors), set out in Note 2 of the Statement of Accounts, be approved.

2. That the Council’s Audited Statement of Accounts 2018/19 be approved.

3. That the major variations in expenditure and income, the proposed slippage and the resulting impact on the level of the Council’s reserves and balances at 31 March 2019 be noted.