Issue - meetings

Joe Chesterton, Divisional Director of Corporate Finance, presented the Council’s unaudited accounts for 2006/07 in line with the statutory requirement to present these to the Council before 30 June 2007.  The accounts are currently being audited by the Council’s external auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and any significant changes will be reported back to the Assembly.

The 2006/07 accounts highlight that the Council’s financial position is extremely healthy in that:

·  The Council’s services throughout 2006/07 were maintained and delivered within existing budgets;

·  The Council maintains an adequate level of reserves;

·  The Housing Revenue Account has a good working balance; and

·  The Council has no external debt.

During the discussion that followed Members had a number of queries relating to the following, to which the Joe Chesterton gave detailed responses:

·  why the Council’s General Reserves balance had gone down and how the Council knows it has enough funds in the reserves

·  the level of Council Tax return

·  the level of the Council’s housing stock and amount of the right to buy discount

·  what the capital budget was spent on in 2006/07

·  why the pension fund liability had reduced and the employers’ contributions increased significantly, and could Members be reassured that the Council’s pension funds are in good order

Agreed the unaudited Statement of Accounts 2006/07 and noted that a final version incorporating an Audit Certificate will be reported to Members after completion of the audit.