(a)

the Council’s draft statutory statement of accounts was prepared and approved ready for the Audit Committee by the Director for Corporate Services on 25 June 2013;

(b)

there was a significant event which had occurred since the draft accounts were published in June, namely the 3 September 2013 Cabinet decision approving the selection of a preferred bidder for the redevelopment of the Civic Centre;

(c)

further repayments of £528,000 had been received with regards to the Icelandic Bank investment;

(d)

in 2013/14 there were expected to be several significant new or changed requirements to the Code of Practice;

(e)

there was a requirement for the letter of representation to be authorised and submitted to the auditor by 30 September 2013;

(f)

the Committee would be provided with a written response regarding the difference of depreciation of property between schools which was currently set at 10 to 40 years and Public Finance Initiative schools which was set at 60 years;

(g)

the word ‘componentisation’ listed in the Glossary of Financial Terms described the way in which assets were analysed by being broken down into separate components to reflect depreciation in accounts;

(h)

the Committee would be provided with a written response regarding the  increase in outstanding debts of ‘more than one year’ between 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2013;

(i)

the analysis of the travel, subsistence and other expenses related to Members Allowances showed an increase of eight times the amount listed in 2011/12; this was because a Councillor claimed childcare expenses in order to attend Council meetings;

1

the Audit Committee note the amendments made to the Statement of Accounts for 2012/13 as agreed with the Auditor, and outlined in this report;

2

the Statement of Accounts for 2012/13 attached at Appendix A is approved;

3

the letter of representation attached at Appendix B is authorised and submitted to the Auditor;

4

the minor amendment to the paperwork published regarding the officers remuneration note on page 97 of the agenda pack in which the figure in the total remuneration column for the Director for People/ Community Services should have read 137,857 instead of 137,87 was noted;

5

the Committee would be provided with a written response regarding the difference of depreciation of property between schools which was currently set at 10 to 40 years and Public Finance Initiative schools which was set at 60 years;