Agenda item

The Committee will receive the External Audit Technical Update which incorporates the External Audit Progress Report.

Ms C Partridge (KPMG) presented the Technical Update and External Audit progress report.

The Committee was informed that work was ongoing in relation to the planning of the audit of the Financial Statements and Value for Money with the intention of bringing the audit plan to a meeting early in the New Year.  The work on certifying the housing benefits return was in the final stages and the Teachers’ Pension and Pooling of Housing Capital Receipts return had been certified and no issues had been identified.

The KPMG pensions team had also been commissioned to undertake work in relation to the impact of the Local Government Pension Scheme surplus on the Authority.  Arising out of this, there was a discussion of the rationale for this work and the potential implications for the Authority of any changes particularly in relation to employer contributions and the need to protect the value of the scheme. 

An appendix to the report gave details of the 2017/18 deliverables together with the timing and status of those deliverables.

The report then went on to give details of KPMG resources and recent technical developments.

RESOLVED that the External Audit progress report, resources and technical update be noted.