Why Flintshire’s accounts impressed Audit Wales
Audit Wales has given Flintshire County Council’s finances a clean bill of health.
The independent auditor of public services in Wales scrutinised the council’s statement of accounts every year to ensure everything accounted for is accurate and to identify risks and challenge discrepancies in the figures.
Flintshire’s 2024/25 accounts were found to be robust and accurate by auditors and their report has now been approved by Flintshire’s Governance and Audit Committee.
Mike Whiteley, Financial Audit Lead for Audit Wales: “This is a really positive report.
“The council has got a clean bill of health. There are no significant matters to report to members and we will be aiming to certify the accounts on Friday, ahead of the statutory deadline of October 31.”
Specific risks identified in the accounts included the transfer of Aura Leisure and Libraries to Flintshire Leisure and Libraries – specifically around the accuracy of balance transfers and IT systems.
But Audit Wales found no issues with the authority’s procedures in relation to the transfer, ruling it’s approach and disclosures ‘appropriate’.
There was also an identified risk over the transfer of the council’s data centre from Shirehall in Mold to its new headquarters at Ty Dewi Sant in Ewloe – with the potential for data loss during transit.
“Our IT auditor described it as ‘textbook’ in her assessment of how that data move had gone,” said Mr Whiteley.
“The team’s review found the relocation process to be well managed, with
no issues identified. The work highlighted areas of good practice including engaging a specialist firm to transport servers, reducing the risk of damage in transit and implementing a detailed relocation plan with clearly assigned responsibilities.”
Vice chair of the committee, lay member Allan Rainford, praised the council for its work to ensure its accounts were robust.
“The Flintshire County Council team need to be highly commended,” he said. “I think they have done a fantastic job producing the accounts.
“Are you able to say whether Flintshire is a premier authority when it comes to producing clean statements of accounts?”
Mr Whiteley would not be drawn on that suggestion, but he did reveal that in the Welsh local government sector just 23 of the 40 sets of accounts – including Flintshire – were received by the deadline of June 30. As of September 30 there were still eight authorities that had yet to submit any accounts.
“The fact Flintshire met the deadline and produced such a high quality set of accounts really does speak volumes,” he said.
Cllr Paul Johnson, deputy leader of Flintshire County Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Social Value, was pleased the report had been positive.
“This year’s report demonstrates the financial discipline and transparency we have in very challenging circumstances,” he said.
“It shows that despite the sustained cost pressures in social care, education and infrastructure, we have still retained a balanced budget.
“The auditor general’s view that our governance arrangements remain robust I value very highly indeed. The strengths of this report are very clear – accuracy, strong internal controls, effective scrutiny and an improving record of delivering within the resources available.”
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
NEW: Add Deeside.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Latest News
