Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report and explained that following the demise of the Audit Commission new arrangements were needed for the appointment of external auditors. The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 required authorities to either opt in to the appointing person regime or to establish an auditor panel and conduct their own procurement exercise.

The following points were raised and responses given :

·         When asked to what extent CBC’s external auditors gained income other than from audit work the Deputy 151 Officer explained that Grant Thornton were requested to do ad-hoc pieces of work on occasion, in addition to their annual audit work, e.g. specialist VAT advice, investment reviews, etc.  However this was not a regular occurrence and the associated cost for any such professional advice was not material, in comparison to the annual audit costs.

·         It was noted that other local authorities in Gloucestershire used Grant Thornton, and GT were the auditors for the County Council Pension Fund. The council would therefore be able to benefit from GT’s experiences across several councils.

·         Using the Public Sector Audit Appointments was a more cost effective option.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

this Council opts in to the appointing person arrangements made by Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) for the appointment of external auditors.