Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderman Ian Luder and Graeme Smith.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd June 2015.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 2 June 2015 were approved.

Report of the Town Clerk.

International Centre for Financial Regulation

The Chamberlain advised that there had been a conviction and he would provide Members with further details shortly.  This item could be removed from the action list.

Annual Governance Statement

The amendments suggested by Members at the last meeting had been completed and approved (under delegated authority) and the document could now be formally signed off as part of the Statements of Accounts (at items 7 and 8 on this Agenda). 

Corporate Risk Register (Governance)

The Chamberlain advised that 3 further risks had been identified by the Chief Officers’ Risk Management Group (CORMG) and they would be reported to the Committee in September.  Members asked for the report to clarify a number of points raised in relation to the Committee’s Terms of Reference.  In respect of the Risk Challenge Sessions, Members suggested that once the current round of Chief Officer Risk Challenge Sessions was complete, the format might need to change, in order to keep it dynamic and relevant. 

Peer Review 

As this had not been progressed across other authorities, officer would need to look at alternative benchmarking and report back to the Committee in due course.  Members noted that, as a number of organisations were undertaking mock external reviews, this might be an option. 

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received its latest work programme; updates since the last meeting were shown in italics.

Chamberlain to be heard.

This item was covered under item 3 (Outstanding Actions of the Committee).

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered the 2014/15 City Fund and Pension Fund financial statements, together with Deloitte’s report thereon.  The Chairman was pleased at the high attendance (the previous week) at the Members’ Briefings sessions on the Financial Statements.  The Chamberlain advised that, subject to a satisfactory conclusion on a few areas still being reviewed by Deloitte, an unqualified opinion was expected and this position was confirmed by Deloitte.  Members were advised that the Crossrail commitment of £200m from City Fund was now being shown as a note on the face of the balance sheet and that the payment was anticipated to be made by the end of March 2016.

        Members were asked to note the following three areas still being reviewed:

1        Deloitte had challenged the City of London Corporation’s treatment of proceeds from long leasehold disposals (e.g. in the case of the sale of 2 Fann Street).   The City is currently treating the entire proceeds as capital receipts whereas Deloitte consider that there is an argument for part of the proceeds being treated as deferred income and released to revenue over the length of the lease (e.g. over 125 years).  The issue revolves around interpretation as to whether the entire transaction can be treated as a finance lease (capital receipt) or whether the land element should be separated and treated as an operating lease (revenue).  The Chamberlain advised that the outcome would inform how we treated future lease disposals. 

2.       The calculation of the provision for business rate appeals is complex and has required several iterations – the raw data set comprising 44,000 lines and a rateable value of £12.6 billion.  Analyses have been prepared to try and determine trends over the past few years across a number of appeal categories, to identify potential duplicate claims on the Valuation Office

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered the 2014/15 Bridge House Estates, City’s Cash Trust Funds and Sundry Trust Funds Annual Reports and Financial Statements together with Moore Stephens’ report thereon. The Chamberlain advised that an unqualified audit opinion was expected and this position was confirmed by Moore Stephens.   Moore Stephens advised that two risks, which had been highlighted in their Audit Plan when it was presented to the Committee in December, had been resolved satisfactorily.  The Audit Review Panel had met and all Panel Members had approved the accounts. 

        Moore Stephens drew attention to the need to prepare in good time for the new Charity Accounting Regulations coming into effect for 2015/16, in particular that work on the 2014/15 comparators should start early. 

        RESOLVED – That, the Annual Reports and Financial Statements for Bridge House Estates, City’s Cash Trust Funds and the Sundry Trust Funds for the year ended 31 March 2015 be recommended for approval to the Finance Committee.

Town Clerk to be heard.

This had been covered under item 4 (Outstanding Actions) – Annual Governance Statement.

There were no questions

The Chairman thanked Deloitte for their services to the City of London Corporation, over a number of year, as this would be the last time they Audited the City Fund and Pension Fund Financial Statements. 

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

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There were none.

There were no items.