Issue - meetings

Report No: EXC/SA/18/009

Shadow Executive (Cabinet) Members: Stephen Edwards and Ian Houlder

Chairmen of the Committees: FHDC Cllr Louis Busuttil and SEBC Cllr Sarah Broughton        

Lead Officer: Greg Stevenson

RECOMMENDED TO SHADOW COUNCIL (25 September 2018):

West Suffolk Council

(1)     Option 3, to ‘opt-in’ to the sector led body (Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited) for the independent appointment of the Council’s External Auditor, beginning with responsibilities for the financial year 2019-2020, as set out in Report Nos: PAS/SE/18/025 and PAS/FH/18/024, be approved. 

West Suffolk Shadow Authority

(2)     Agreement be given for the External Audit of the West Suffolk Shadow Authority Accounts to be prepared under the Smaller Authority audit procedures, as set out in Attachment A of Report No: EXC/SA/18/009; and

(3)     approval be given for the S151 Officer to write to the Smaller Authorities' Audit Appointments (SAAA) informing them that the West Suffolk Shadow Authority would like to be treated as ‘opted in’ to the smaller authorities scheme and as such the auditor would be PKF Littlejohn (the appointees for Suffolk).

The Shadow Executive (Cabinet) considered the above report which sought approval for arrangements for the external audit of the accounts for the Shadow Authority and for West Suffolk Council.

The new West Suffolk Council was required to confirm its external audit arrangements to appoint a local auditor to audit its accounts for 2019/2020.  Forest Heath District and St Edmundsbury Borough Councils had previously in 2016, agreed to ‘opt-in’ to the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) audit arrangements; however, as these arrangements could not transition across to West Suffolk Council, the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committees had recommended to the Shadow Executive (Cabinet) and Shadow Council that the Councils’ present commitment to option 3, which was to ‘opt-in’ to the PSAA arrangements, should be reaffirmed.  

Officers, in consultation with the Chairmen of FHDC’s and SEBC’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committees, had also recommended proposed arrangements for auditing the accounts of the West Suffolk Shadow Authority (WSSA).  The WSSA met the criteria of a ‘smaller authority’ and following consideration of alternative options, as set out in Attachment A to the report, officers had considered that opting-in to the Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments scheme would be the most cost-efficient route whilst also providing a well-established audit regime.

Councillor Ian Houlder, one of the Shadow Executive Members with the responsibility for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Shadow Executive (Cabinet). Councillor Stephen Edwards, the other Shadow Executive Member with the responsibility for Resources and Performance, acknowledged the work of the officers in managing to secure a pragmatic and extremely cost effective method for auditing the accounts for the Shadow Authority.

Therefore, it was:

RECOMMENDED TO SHADOW COUNCIL (25 September 2018):

That:

West Suffolk Council

(1)     Option 3, to ‘opt-in’ to the sector led body (Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited) for the independent appointment of the Council’s External Auditor, beginning with responsibilities for the financial year 2019-2020, as set out in Report Nos: PAS/SE/18/025 and PAS/FH/18/024, be approved. 

West Suffolk Shadow Authority

(2)     Agreement be given for the External Audit of the West Suffolk Shadow Authority Accounts to be prepared under the Smaller Authority audit procedures, as set out in Attachment A of Report No: EXC/SA/18/009; and

(3)     approval be given for the S151 Officer to write to the Smaller Authorities' Audit Appointments (SAAA) informing them that the West Suffolk Shadow Authority would like to be treated as ‘opted in’ to the smaller authorities scheme and as such the auditor would be PKF Littlejohn (the appointees for Suffolk).