Council Meeting – 22 November 2006 Supporting Appendices for Items 8
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b Council Meeting – 22 nd November 2006 Supporting Appendices for Items 8, 11, 12, 13 & 14 Caroline Strallen [email protected] Democratic Services Tel: 020 7926 0028 Directorate of Strategy & Fax: 020 7926 2755 Corporate Services Democratic Services Room 113, Lambeth Town Hall Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RW 14 th November 2006 Page Nos. 8. Report of Corporate Committee meetings 1 - 50 See attached appendices 11. Amendment to Members' Allowance Scheme 2006/7 51 - 118 See attached appendices 12. Stockwell Park High School Development Brief 119 - 142 See attached appendices 13. Stockwell Park Transfer of Housing Stock 143 - 178 See attached appendices 14. Constitution 2006/7: amendments 179 - 242 See attached appendices This page is intentionally left blank Page 1 Agenda Item 8 b Corporate Committee 27 th June 2006 Statement of Accounts 2005/06 Item 3 All Ward(s) / All Area(s) Report authorised by: Executive Director of Finance – Mike Suarez. Executive summary The Council is required by law to adopt a statement of accounts for the 2005/06 financial year no later than 30 June 2006. The Corporate Committee has the appropriate authority to approve the accounts. The draft statement of accounts is attached as Appendix 1. Under the Council’s Financial Regulations, the approval of the carrying forward of unspent revenue budgets rests with the Council. This report recommends that carry- forwards totalling £1,585,539 be approved in principle, subject to ratification at the next available Council meeting. Summary of financial implications Other than the proposed approval in principle of the carry-forwards approving this report does not commit the Council to any additional expenditure. Recommendations (1) That the Committee approves the Statement of Accounts for 2005/06 as set out in Appendix 1 to this report. (2) That the Committee approve in principle the carry-forwards as set out in paragraph 2.3, subject to ratification at the next available Council meeting. (3) That the Committee request the Executive Director of Finance to permit departments to spend against “approved in principle” carry-forwards in order to facilitate service delivery. In the event that any “in principle” approvals are not ratified by the Council the Executive Director of Finance will recover the sums from the relevant departments by requiring them to make compensating savings within their 2006/07 cash limits. Item 3 Corporate Committee (27.06.06) Statement of Accounts 2005/06 Page 2 Consultation Name of Directorate or Organisation Date sent Date Comments consultee to response appear in report consultee received para: from consultee Internal Cllr J Dickson Executive Member for Finance 15/06/06 Mike Suarez Executive Director of Finance 15/06/06 Throughout Mike Dickens Legal Services 15/06/06 15/06/06 Section 4 Entered in Consultation and Events Diary? No Report history Date report drafted: Report Date report sent: Report no.: deadline: 15.06.06 15.06.06 15.06.06 7/06-07 Report author and contact for queries: Francis Austin, Interim Chief Accountant 020 7926 9316 [email protected] Background documents There are no background documents. Appendices Appendix 1: Draft Statement of Accounts Item 3 Corporate Committee (27.06.06) Statement of Accounts 2005/06 2 Page 3 Statement of Accounts 2005/06 1. Context 1.1 This report is backwards looking in that it presents the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006. It therefore lays a key foundation stone for the July review, when the Council’s current financial position will be reported in detail. Last year marked the first year that the accounts were available prior to the July review. This improvement has been maintained in 2006. 1.2 The production and approval of the Council’s accounts is an important process. It enables stakeholders to review the Council’s financial position for the year ended 31 March 2006 and the overall financial activity within the year. Producing the accounts and approving them before 30 June 2006 is a legal duty, and also a key target in the Lambeth improvement plan. 1.3 By approving the accounts on 27 June 2006 the council will, for the second year running, have completed this key task before the end of June. The table below shows the improvements made since the 2001/02 accounts were prepared. Year Date accounts Statutory Days from Comments approved deadline to year-end to approve approve accounts accounts 2001/02 29 September 30 Sept 2002 182 Accounts later withdrawn and 2002 substantially amended as material under provision for bad debts became apparent 2002/03 17 Sept 2003 30 Sept 2003 170 Accounts certified by District Auditor by deadline with only one qualification (commutation adjustment) 2003/04 29 July 2004 31 August 120 30% improvement on previous year, 2004 statutory deadline beaten by 1 month, accounts not qualified for first time in at least 17 years 2004/05 27 June 2005 31 July 2005 88 Further 27% improvement on previous year, time taken halved in 2 years, statutory deadline again beaten by 1 month 2005/06 27 June 2006 30 June 2006 88 The statutory deadline has been shortened by a month. The Council has continued to meet the deadline. It is not felt prudent to reduce further the period available for the preparation of the accounts. 1.4 Although aspects of the presentation of the accounts have been amended in line with statutory provisions and accounting practice, there are no changes to the format that require highlighting to this committee. 2005/06 marks the first year of the requirement to produce “group accounts”, which consolidate the accounts for Lambeth Council and any other bodies in which the council has a controlling Item 3 Corporate Committee (27.06.06) Statement of Accounts 2005/06 3 Page 4 interest. The Council has reviewed its activities and determined that there are no such bodies and therefore no need to produce group accounts. 1.5 The process for adopting the accounts is set out below. Prior to any decision to adopt the accounts: “the responsible financial officer…shall sign and date the statement of accounts, income and expenditure account and statement of balances” and “following [the above] approval the statement of accounts shall be signed and dated by the person presiding at the meeting at which that approval was given” Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 1.6 The responsible financial officer for Lambeth is the Executive Director of Finance. In order to achieve the above it is recommended that he sign the accounts at the meeting (but before the decision to approve the accounts is taken). Provided that the Committee does determine to adopt the accounts it is recommended that the person presiding at the meeting (i.e. the Chair) signs the accounts immediately thereafter. 2. The Statement of Accounts 2.1 The statement of accounts contains all the requisite information required by statute. The foreword to the accounts includes a “plain English” explanation of the significant financial transactions in the year and of the year-end balances. 2.2 However, under the Financial Regulations (section 6B, Financial Procedures, paragraph 1.23) no carry forwards of unspent budgets are permitted without the approval of the full Council. Included within the Statement of Accounts are carry- forwards totalling £1,585,539. The Statements have been prepared on the assumption that they will be approved. 2.3 The requests are as follows: • £478,00 in respect of expenditure covered by the school standards fund grant. The underspend arose because the grant funding relates to the education year rather than the financial year. If it is not approved the money will have to be returned to the DfES; • £620,000 of expenditure relating to the non-delegated part of the schools budget. These funds can only be spent within the schools spending block and therefore cannot be used for other purposes. • £61,689 for the costs of retendering the waste contract. Budget provision for this was made in 2005/06, but it was always envisaged that this process would span financial years. • £150,000 for the Leisure Review project. This is an on-going multi-year project and this carry forward would allow it to continue. • £275,850 for the Oracle Financial Systems to purchase new software to improve delivery of financial information across the council. Item 3 Corporate Committee (27.06.06) Statement of Accounts 2005/06 4 Page 5 2.4 A business case for each request has been submitted to the Finance Department and reviewed by the Executive Director of Finance. It is recommended that the Committee approve these carry-forwards, subject to ratification at the next available Council meeting. In order to facilitate delivery of the relevant services it is also recommended that the Executive Director of Finance be authorised to approve expenditure against these items during 2006/07, subject to the caveat that the sums will be recovered from the appropriate departmental cash limit should Council decide not to ratify any of the recommended sums. 3. Comments from Executive Director of Finance 3.1 Other than the carry-forward requests noted above there are no direct financial implications in approving the accounts. 4. Comments from Director of Legal and Democratic Services 4.1 The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 came into force on 1 st April 2003, replacing the previous Regulations of 1996. Regulation 10 requires the statement of accounts for the financial year 2005/06 to be approved by a resolution of the Council or a committee of the Council by 30 June 2006. 4.2 As the approval of the statement of accounts is not an executive function, the Council has arranged for this function to be discharged by Corporate Committee.