On 6 December 2016, Full Council discussed an update to the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s draft annual statement of accounts and audit findings report. The auditors, Grant Thornton, have identified several issues that must be addressed in order to be fully compliant with the financial code.
The budget deficit is higher than initially forecast. Specifically, debts, and therefore projected income, have been overstated by £546k and need to be restated in the accounts.
The auditors are working with the council’s Chief Finance Officer to complete the statement of accounts by the next meeting of Full Council on 26 January 2017, by which time the exact figures will be known.
Councillor Amanda Martin, Chairman of the Council, said "the closure of the statement of accounts for 2015/16 is of critical importance for the Council to be able to set next year’s budget. Regrettably, our local authority is facing huge budgetary pressures in common with all public authorities throughout the country and further savings will be required."
You can read all of the papers presented at the Full Council meeting of 6 December at the following link: http://committees.scilly.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=127&MId=945