Accounts for the Year Ending 31 March 2020 - Notice of Conclusion of Audit
29th of November, 2020
Each year the Parish Council’s accounts for the period 1 April to 31 March in the following year are subject to ‘internal’ and then ‘external’ audit.
The external auditor (PKF Littlejohn LLP) has undertaken the external audit of the accounts for the year ending 31 March 2020. In their opinion the information in Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR was in accordance with Proper Practices and no other matters have come to their attention to give cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met. They have however identified the following issues:
- The AGAR was not accurately completed before submission for review. The figures in Section 2, Box 3 of the prior year comparative column do not agree to the prior year final signed AGAR. Box 3 for the prior year should read £6,458.
- The AGAR has not been signed in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. Section 2 was not signed by the Responsible Finance Officer before approval.
PARISH COUNCIL RESPONSE:
The Parish Council accept that Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) was not accurately completed before submission for review in that:
- Section 2, Box 3 should read £6,458 (the same as the previous year’s report) rather than £6,548. This was a transcription error.
- The former Responsible Financial Officer has confirmed that Section 2 of the AGAR (Accounting Statements 2019/20 Annual Return) was signed by her on 1 July 2020 before the Parish Council Meeting and that the date of “3/7/20” was an error. The Annual Governance Statement 2019/20 Annual Return (Section 1) was approved by the Parish Council on 1 July 2020 (and signed by the Chair at the meeting) not 2 July 2020 as shown on the Return and the notices were placed on the Parish Council notice boards on 3 July 2020.
The Council is now required to:
- Prepare a “Notice of conclusion of audit” which details the rights of inspection, in line with the statutory requirements.
- Publish the “Notice” along with the certified AGAR (Sections 1, 2 & 3) before 30 November,
- Keep copies of the AGAR available for purchase by any person on payment of a reasonable sum (there will be no charge).
- Ensure that Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the published AGAR remain available for public access for a period of not less than 5 years from the date of publication.