In respect of Whicham Parish Council
Our responsibility as auditors is to complete a limited assurance review is set out by the National Audit Office (NAO). A limited assurance review is not a full statutory audit, it does not constitute an audit carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK & Ireland) and hence it does not provide the same level of assurance that such an audit would. The UK Government has determined that a lower level of assurance than that provided by a full statutory audit is appropriate for those local public bodies with the lowest levels of spending.
Under a limited assurance review, the auditor is responsible for reviewing Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return in accordance with NAO Auditor Guidance Note 02 (AGN 02) as issued by the NAO on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General. AGN 02 is available from the NAO website – https://www.nao.org.uk/code-audit-practice/guidance-and-information-for-auditors/.
This authority is responsible for ensuring that its financial management is adequate and effective and that it has a sound system of internal control. The authority prepares an Annual Governance and Accountability Return in accordance with Proper Practices which:
Except for the matter reported below on the basis of our review of Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return, in our opinion the information in Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return is in accordance with the Proper Practices and no other matters have come to our attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met.
We identified during our review of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return that boxes 4 and 6 of the prior year (2021-22) on Section 2 – Accounting Statements were restated due to a classification error between staff costs and other costs. The comparative column has not been marked as ‘Restated’ to bring it to the attention of the reader, which is a breach of proper practices and as a result a ‘No’ response should have been provided at assertion 3 on the 2022-23 Governance Statement. As the figures for the 2023 year are correctly stated we do not believe this should impact the 2023-24 return.
Other matters not affecting our opinion which we draw to the attention of the authority:
The Annual Internal Audit Report was initially submitted without an answer to Assertions F and O. This was resubmitted by the Internal Auditor when queried with a ‘Yes’ and ‘N/A’ answer respectively. This answer was in line with expectations and so there is no further concern in relation to this area.
We certify/do not certify* that we have completed our review of Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return, and discharged our responsibilities under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, for the year ended 31 March 2023.
*We do not certify completion because:
External Auditor Name
MOORE
External Auditor Signature
[handwritten, see original document] Date 04/08/2023
Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2022/23 Part 3
Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities*
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