Supplementary A - London Borough of Hillingdon

6 Use of Resources Judgements │ Theme summaries
Theme summaries
7 The key findings and conclusions for each of the five themes are summarised in
Table 3.
Table 3
Summary of findings and conclusions by theme
Financial reporting
Theme score: 3
Key findings and conclusions
The Council achieved the more challenging statutory deadline of 30 June for
approving the 2005/06 Statement of Accounts, with the accounts presented
being generally of a good overall quality. However, there was an increase in the
number of errors that required amending.
Robust member scrutiny of the accounts prior to their approval and
presentation for audit suffered as a result of the transition in administration and
the setting up of the new audit committee. A comprehensive summary of the
changes made to the accounts following the audit, was submitted to members.
Improvement opportunities
KLOE 1.1 The Council produces
annual accounts in accordance with
relevant standards and timetables,
supported by comprehensive
working papers.
• Arrangements need to be
strengthened to minimise the number
of non-trivial errors requiring
amendment in the accounts, if the
Council is to continue to perform
consistently above minimum
requirements in respect of this KLOE.
• Responsiveness to audit queries
needs to be timely across all service
groups and this is a new criterion for
the 2007 assessment.
• The Council needs to strengthen its
arrangements for ensuring that the
accounts are subject to robust
member scrutiny prior to their
approval. This should be facilitated by
member training and a covering report
detailing all significant issues.
London Borough of Hillingdon