Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Director of Finance that presented the Council’s draft Statement of Accounts for the financial year 2022/23.

The report highlighted:

a.    The overall revenue outturn position for 2022/23 was a deficit of £1.147m.

b.    The year-end variances that are attributable to each Portfolio.

c.    The level of un-ringfenced and un-ringfenced grants received and used in 2022/23 including those grants received specifically to support COVID-19 legacy/recovery costs, the cost of living crisis and to support those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

d.    School’s balances at 31 March 2023 were £8.381m.

e.    The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) surplus was £0.899m which is split between an unusable reserve and an earmarked reserve according to statute.

f.     The final Housing Revenue Account (HRA) balance was £22.585m.

g.    The balance on the Collection Fund was a surplus of £3.717m.

h.    The revenue account earmarked reserves at £79.130m, Revenue Grant Reserves of £7.968m, plus School Balances as above and the DSG reserve at £3.672m.

i.      Expenditure on the Council’s Capital Programme for 2022/23 was £58.787m against the revised Capital Programme in 2022/23, resulting in a variance of £8.426m compared to the projected outturn of £50.361m at month 9.

j.      The significant items in each of the primary financial statements.

k.    The preparation of Group Accounts incorporating the Council’s subsidiary MioCare Community Interest Company.

l.      The sterling performance of the Finance Team in closing the accounts.

The Committee was advised that the presentation of the draft Statement of Accounts was in line with good practice, providing members of the Audit Committee with the opportunity to review the Council’s year-end financial position before they were required to formally approve the accounts.

The Council had submitted its draft 2021/22 financial statements to the External Auditors, Mazars LLP, on 31 May 2022 which was within the statutory deadline and the Council’s internal deadline as agreed with the External Auditor.

The Council’s External Auditor Mazars LLP had been able to issue a draft Audit Completion report for the 2021/22 accounts and this had been presented to the Audit Committee on 28 March 2023. The Committee were advised that the Accounts had been prepared to a high standard, but the audit could not be fully completed due to technical accounting issues. There was firstly a delay in the completion of the audit due to a sector-wide accounting issue relating to the valuation of infrastructure assets (roads, bridges etc).

A temporary resolution was reached in December 2022, with the introduction of a statutory override which applied to the accounts for 2021/22 and the accounting periods to 31 March 2025. The Council’s 2021/22 financial statements were updated to incorporate the relevant changes and the External Auditor was able to complete this element of the audit and issue the draft Audit Completion report.

The second delay to the sign off of the 2021/22 accounts related to the valuation of the assets of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) and the audit of the GMPF. This outstanding item has two elements, one national issue and one local, both of which are outside the direct control of the Council relying on action from both the GMPF, which administers the Local Government Pension Scheme for Oldham and the other Councils in Greater Manchester, and Mazars LLP. The Council is awaiting information requested from the Pension Fund actuary to resolve the queries. When the information is received, the Council Will be able to assess the impact on the 2021/22 accounts and once a resolution to both matters has been agreed with the External Auditors, it would be possible for the audit for 2021/22 to be completed.

Resolved:
That the Committee notes the Council’s draft Statement of Accounts for 2022/23.