Agenda and minutes

To record the attendance of substitute councillors, if any, who have been authorised to attend in accordance with the provisions of standing order 17(1), with notification having been given to the proper officer before the start of the meeting and to receive apologies for absence. 

Councillors Marilyn Badcock, Julia Bricknell and Andrew Crawford had all sent their apologies and were substituted by Councillors Mike Badcock, Tony de Vere and Richard Webber respectively.  

To receive any declarations of personal or personal and prejudicial interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

Councillor Mike Badcock declared a personal interest in the statement of accounts item, as he was a member of Oxfordshire County Council and Abingdon Town Council. 

To receive notification of any matters, which the chair determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair. 

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Any statements, petitions and questions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

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To review the draft statement of accounts for 2010/11 and the supporting notes.  An explanation of amendments made to date is set out at the beginning of the attached document.

At its meeting on 4 July 2011 the committee requested an explanation of a number of items in the draft statement of accounts.  Responses to these are set out on pages 118-120. 

The financial outturn 2010/11 report that Cabinet will considerat its meeting on 9 September has been circulated to committee members.  This is provided to allow the committee to understand the background to the statement of accounts. 

The committee reviewed the draft statement of accounts 2010/11 with the intention of carrying out a detailed scrutiny before approving it on 28 September. 

The committee debated the following:

• The comprehensive expenditure and income statement had changed format to a summarised version since the first draft was presented to the committee in July.  The District Auditor recommended this as the detail relating to items in the comprehensive expenditure and income statement was already included in supporting notes – this was in line with best practice in other councils. 
• The comprehensive expenditure and income statement included a line reference to £2 million housing expenditure.  The committee asked for an explanation of this figure in the supporting notes or the explanatory foreword.  This was a large amount and therefore justified further explanation for the public’s benefit.  The committee asked officers to add a note to the explanatory foreword of the statement of accounts.  The committee was content for the officers to draft the amendment. 
• The County Council administered Oxfordshire’s pension fund.  The County Council had carried out a tri-ennial review of the fund and the County Council’s fund managers had engaged new actuaries to value the fund.  The council’s liability had reduced as a result of the future increments on the fund liabilities being fixed to the consumer price index rather than the retail price index following a legislative change.  However, the committee questioned whether the statement of accounts should include a more detailed explanation.  An explanation appeared in the supporting notes but the committee noted that the County Council’s pension fund report contained further detail.  The officers agreed to circulate this to the committee.  The committee noted that it would have the opportunity to ask the external auditor whether the council’s liability calculation was correct and whether the explanation was sufficient.  The external auditor would attend the committee’s next meeting on 28 September. 
• The officers had rounded some figures in the statement of accounts.  The committee asked the officers to ensure that the rounded figures were consistent throughout the accounts. 

The committee also considered the financial outturn report to Cabinet.  This allowed the committee to question whether the savings or expenditure shown in the statement of accounts were correct.  The report explained the revenue underspend of £1.6 million in 2010/11, the changes in contributions to reserves, and the capital expenditure for the year.  The committee thanked the officers for this report. 

RESOLVED: To:

(a)       update the statement of accounts by including an explanation of the £2 million expenditure on housing, either in the statement of accounts’ supporting notes or the explanatory foreword, and consulting the council’s external auditor on how best to do this; 

(b)       ensure that the rounded figures are consistent throughout the statement of accounts;

(c)        raise a question with the District Auditor on the pension fund liability calculation and whether the supporting notes are sufficient; and

(d)       request officers to provide relevant statements from the auditors to explain the retail price index and consumer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

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