Issue - meetings

Future Approach to Appointing External Auditors

 

 

Meeting: 26/01/2017 - Council (Item 663)

663 Appointment of External Auditor - Decision to Opt in to the National Scheme for Auditor Appointments pdf icon PDF 125 KB

This report seeks approval for the appointment of the External Auditor to the Council for the 2018/19 accounts and beyond, as the current arrangements only cover up to and including the 2017/18 audits. The report also seeks approval to a consequential change to the Constitution.

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

This report provided details of the final proposals for the appointment of the External Auditor to the Council for the 2018/19 accounts and beyond, as the current arrangements only covered up to and including the 2017/18 audits. With regards to future arrangements, Council, on 13 October 2016, considered the options for appointing the External Auditor and decided to agree Option 3 (opt in to a sector led body).

 

The report also provided details of a consequential change to the Constitution arising from these proposals.

 

The Chairman of the Audit Committee, Councillor Kemp, supported by the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Councillor Gulvin, proposed the recommendations in the report.

 

Decisions:

 

a)    The Council agreed, under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Local Audit (Appointing Person) Regulations 2015, to accept Public Sector Audit Appointments’ invitation to become an opted in authority for the purposes of the appointment of external auditors for five financial years commencing 1 April 2018.

 

b)    The Council agreed that the Chief Finance Officer be authorised to sign the notice of acceptance of the invitation to become an opted in authority.

 

c)    The Council agreed that the Chief Finance Officer be authorised, following consultation with the Audit Committee if the timescales allow, to respond to consultations from the PSAA regarding the appointment of the Council’s auditor and the proposed scale of audit fees.

 

d)    The Council agreed the proposed amendment to the Constitution set out in paragraph 4 of the report.

Meeting: 13/10/2016 - Council (Item 370)

370 Appointment of External Auditor pdf icon PDF 42 KB

This report summarises the changes to the arrangements for appointing External Auditors following the closure of the Audit Commission and the end of the transitional arrangements at the conclusion of the 2017/2018 audits.

 

The report sets out the options available to put in place new arrangements in time to make a first appointment by 31 December 2017.

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

This report provided a summary of the changes to the arrangements for appointing External Auditors following the closure of the Audit Commission and the end of the transitional arrangements at the conclusion of the 2017-18 audits. The report set out the three options for putting in place new arrangements in time to make a first appointment by 31 December 2017.

 

The Audit Committee considered this report on 29 September 2016 and its comments were set out in paragraph 5 of the report.

 

The Chairman of the Audit Committee, Councillor Kemp, supported by the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Councillor Gulvin, proposed the recommendation in the report.

 

Decision:

 

The Council agreed to Option 3 (Opt-in to a sector led body) in relation to the appointment of the External Auditor.

Meeting: 29/09/2016 - Audit Committee (Item 330)

330 Appointment of External Auditor pdf icon PDF 164 KB

 

This report summarises the changes to the arrangements for appointing External Auditors following the closure of the Audit Commission and the end of the transitional arrangements at the conclusion of the 2017-18 audits.

The Council will need to consider the options available and put in place new arrangements in time to make a first appointment by 31 December 2017.

 

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

Members considered a report which summarised the changes to the arrangements for appointing External Auditors following the closure of the Audit Commission and the end of the transitional arrangements at the conclusion of the 2017-18 audits.

 

Members supported Option 3 in the report (Opt-in to a sector led body) and also noted that Option 2 (Set up a Joint Auditor Panel) was effectively no longer a realistic option given that most other councils in the area had confirmed that they also supported the opt-in to a sector led body approach.

 

Given the shared audit service with Gravesham Borough Council, a Member commented that it would make sense for both councils to have the same external auditor and queried whether this was something the Council could request. Officers advised that the Council could make that request but it was likely that, in any event, the sector led body which would be responsible for appointing the auditor would more than likely appoint an auditor to cover a specific geographical area and therefore Medway and Gravesham Councils would probably (unlike now) have the same auditor under the new arrangements.

 

Decision:

 

The Committee agreed to:

 

a)        note the future implications for external audit procurement arrangements and;

 

b)        in respect of the appointment of the External Auditor, recommend Option 3 (Opt-in to a sector led body) to Council.