Statement of Accounts:
1. To brief the Committee on the progress of the audit of the draft Statement of Accounts 2020/21, the proposed timetable to completion, and publishing an audited Statement of Accounts and the process that Birmingham City Council will follow to support the Committee in considering and subsequently approving the audited Statement of Accounts 2020/21.
2.The statutory requirements for local authority accounting are set out in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, supported by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No 234) or ‘the 2015 Regulations’.
3. As a result of the Covid pandemic the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021 No 263) have amended the 2015 Regulations for the 2020/21 financial year, deferring publication dates and making other consequential changes.
4. The regulations determine the format, content and timings of the Statement of Accounts.
Audit Findings Report update:
1. At its meeting on 25 November 2020, Audit Committee Members considered the External Auditor’s Audit Findings Report (AFR) on the Council’s financial statements, which summarised the significant outcomes, conclusions and recommendations from their work to date.
2. At that time, whilst the external auditors had completed the substantial proportion of their audit of the financial statements, there remained a number of elements where further work was required. Following the completion of the work, the External Auditor issued a revised Audit Findings Report, which Members considered on 26 January 2021.
3. The revised AFR contained 13 new recommendations and followed up on 5 recommendations from prior years.
4. Management responses were considered at Audit Committee on 26 January 2021 and are identified in Appendix 1. Quarterly update reports have been presented to this Committee on 30 March 2021 and 29 June 2021. This report provides the next quarter’s update on progress in implementing action to meet the recommendations also identified in Appendix 1.