Agenda item - Ernst & Young: Annual Certification Report 2014/15 and Progress Report 2015/16

Report of Ernst & Young (copy attached).

1)            That Committee note the report.

62.1      The Committee considered a report of Ernst & Young that provided the 2014/15 Annual Certification report that related to the audit of the Council’s 2014/15 grant claims and communicated the results of the auditor’s certification work to Members. The report also included a progress update that provided the Committee with an overview of work on the 2014/15 audit and a schedule for the 2015/16 audit.

62.2      In relation to Housing benefits subsidy claims, Councillor Druitt asked how the Council ranked comparatively against other authorities in this area and for the auditors views on how improvements in the control environment of the housing benefit department could be achieved.

62.3      Paul King clarified that Brighton & Hove City Council were amongst the better performing councils in this area. In relation to improvements in the control environment, Paul King stated that this was a general recommendation and the Revenue & Benefits team were aware of how controls could be tightened and Ernst & Young would seek demonstration of improvement in their next audit.

62.4      The Acting Director, Finance & Resources cautioned that the administrative cost of reducing extrapolated errors needed to be considered as this could end up being higher than the current overpayments which represented less than 0.1% of the overall housing benefit scheme payments made.

62.5      Dr Horne noted that the committee were provided in-depth detail on internal audit actions but much less on external audit actions. Dr Horne believed that this was an area Members could refine and he felt it would be useful for the committee to receive a report on the matter to a future meeting.

62.6      Councillor Sykes asked if sufficient resources were available to undertake the recommendation from the external auditor relating to the control environment.

62.7      The Acting Director, Finance & Resources stated that the service was always seeking potential efficiencies and there may be scope to do so in this area through digital services. Furthermore, the council always sought to minimise risk and claim the full subsidy amount due.

62.8      RESOLVED- That Committee note the report.