Issue - meetings

(a)  London Borough of Havering.

The Council’s external auditor’s Ernst & Young presented their audit plan for the Council.

The Audit Plan covered the work they planned to perform to provide the Council with:

·       Their audit opinion on whether the financial statements of London Borough of Havering gave a true and fair view of the financial position as at 31 March 2017 and of the income and expenditure for the year then ended;

·       Their conclusion on the Council’s arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The audit would also review and report to the National Audit Office (NAO), to the extent and in the form required by them, on the Council’s Whole of Government Accounts return.

This year, for the first time, the Council would prepare Group Accounts consolidating the transactions and balances of its wholly owned subsidiary company Mercury landholdings. Ernst & Young were assessing the significance of the component entity to the group. Their planned involvement in the work of Mazars, as auditors to Mercury Land Holdings, would depend on that assessment.

The scale fee for this year’s audit would be £151,844 for the audit opinion and VFM conclusion and £16,178 for the certification of claims and returns. The work with the auditors of Mercury Land Holdings was likely to attract a variation to the scale fee.

The Committee noted the report.

(b)  Havering Pension Fund

The Council’s external auditor’s Ernst & Young presented their audit plan for the Havering Pension Fund.

The Audit Plan covered the work they planned to perform to provide the Committee with:

·       Their audit opinion on whether the financial statements of the Havering Pension Fund (the Pension Fund) gave a true and fair view of the financial transactions of the Pension Fund during the year ended 31 March 2017 and the amount and disposition of the Fund’s assets and liabilities as at 31 March 2017; and

·       Their opinion on the consistency of the Pension Fund financial statements within the Pension Fund annual report with the published financial statements of the London Borough of Havering Council.

The indicative fee for the audit of the Pension Fund was £21,000.

The Committee noted the report.