Agenda item

City Fund and Pension Fund Financial Statements

Report of the Chamberlain and the External Auditor.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Chamberlain and supporting reports of the External Auditors (BDO) in respect of the City Fund and Pension Fund Financial Statements for 2017-18.  Members noted that the reports had been marked ‘to follow’, circulated by email and added to the City of London Corporation’s web page for both the Finance and Audit and Risk Management Committees. 

 

The Chamberlain reminded Members of the two briefing sessions on the Financial Statements, which had taken place on 9th and 16th July.  The sessions had been well attended by Members of the Court, in addition to the Finance and Audit and Risk Management Committees.  The notes taken at these sessions had been circulated to Members and the Chamberlain had produced an executive summary covering the headlines.

 

Members noted that the sessions had  raised a couple of queries which would stray into exemption categories 1 & 2 (information relating to an individual/likely to reveal the identity of an individual) under the Local Government Act 1972 and they would therefore be answered in the non-public session of this meeting under ‘items of urgent business’. 

Please see item 16 - below **

 

The Chamberlain introduced the session and explained that this was the first time the accounts had been produced on an accelerated time table, following last year’s ‘dry run’.  Going forward, the Chamberlain and the Auditors would be considering further measures to make the accounts more streamlined and digestible and keep down the volume of paperwork.

 

The External Auditors were pleased to confirm clean sets of City Fund and Pension Fund accounts, with an unqualified opinion and only minor queries which were in the process of being resolved or would be shortly. Similarly, a couple of minor queries raised during the Member Briefing Sessions were being addressed. This year, public sector external auditors had been tasked with being particularly challenging in respect of valuations on land and buildings and pension funds.   

 

The Auditors and Chamberlain explained that the main area of concern, which had been discussed in the briefing sessions, was Police use of resources.  However, given the strength of the rest of the City Corporation’s accounts and the intervention by the Corporation in managing the police’s year end position, the use of resources opinion on the Police accounts was not qualified.  Members noted that they would receive an Internal Audit Report on Police Financial Controls at their next meeting and the Police Commissioner would be in attendance.

 

In concluding, the Chairman and Members thanked the External Auditors (BDO) and the  Chamberlain’s team for their hard work and agreed unanimously to recommend the accounts to the Finance Committee for approval and sign off.

 

RESOLVED, THAT -

 

1.          The City Fund and Pension Fund Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2018 be recommend to the Finance Committee for approval; and

 

2.          Authority be delegated to the Chamberlain, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee, to approve material changes to the financial statements required before the signing of the Audit Opinion by BDO - which is expected to be by the end of July 2018.

 

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