Overview of Further Education colleges (PDF | 262 ... - Audit Scotland

Audit results
Completion of accounts and audits
6. Section 22 (5) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000
(the PFA Act) requires Scottish Ministers to lay before Parliament a copy of
every account and report sent to them via the Auditor General not later than
nine months after the end of the financial period to which the account
relates. The completion of the audit of four colleges was delayed beyond the
nine-month targets for a variety of reasons. It is disappointing that such
relatively generous reporting timetables could not be met. To ensure that
compliance with deadlines can be achieved in future years it is essential that:
" a timetable for the conduct and completion of the audit should be agreed
in advance and the accounts and supporting working papers should be
made to the auditors in accordance with that timetable
" any changes to the guidance and directions on the form and content of
the annual accounts should be notified by SFEFC well in advance of the
point at which college accounts are being prepared
" in the event that completion of the audit will be delayed, early dialogue is
entered into with Audit Scotland so that revised deadlines can be agreed.
7. Auditors provided unqualified opinions on the 1999/2000 accounts of 42
colleges. In the remaining college the auditor provided a technical
qualification on the basis of limitation of scope in that the college had not
complied fully with the provisions of Financial Reporting Standard 15,
Accounting for Tangible Fixed Assets. In a further five colleges, while auditors
did not qualify their opinion on the financial statements, attention was
drawn to the financial circumstances of the college.
8. In August 2000 the Accounting Standards Board issued a Statement Of
Recommended Practice (SORP) Accounting for Further and Higher
Education. The SORP is applicable to all further and higher education
institutions in the United Kingdom for accounting periods commencing on
or after 1 August 1999. Although the SORP is not strictly applicable to the
accounts of 1999/2000, SFEFC reviewed individual college’s financial
statements to gauge the level of compliance with disclosure requirements of
the SORP. SFEFC concluded colleges mostly complied with the requirements
of the SORP but, equally, every college could improve its compliance.
9. The SORP was issued so that, as far as possible, the financial statements of
institutions should be prepared on a comparable and consistent basis. The
further education sector in Scotland has made good progress in applying the
SORP but it is essential that it builds on this good start to ensure full
compliance in future accounts.
FE colleges overview
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