4
There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the unaudited annual accounts for the Joint Committee for 2019/20, a copy of which were attached to the report.
The report intimated that the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 would be submitted to Audit Scotland for audit in advance of the statutory deadline of 30 June 2020. The accounts indicated that Scotland Excel’s core activities resulted in a draw on reserves of £6,139 in 2019/20 compared to a budgeted draw on reserves of £14,000 and projects returned income of £126,368 over expenditure. This produced a combined underspend for the year of £120,229 which had been added to usable reserves, which were committed as outlined in note 5 to the accounts.
The management commentary within the accounts provided an overview of Scotland Excel’s performance during 2019/20 along with risk information and its outlook for the future.
The Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014 required that Scotland Excel prepare and publish a set of accounts, including an annual governance statement, by 30 June each year. The unaudited accounts were then required to be formally considered by the Joint Committee no later than 31 August and the annual governance statement should be formally approved at this time.
In accordance with the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014, the unaudited annual accounts would be signed only by the Treasurer as proper officer. The accounts would then be subject to external audit by the Joint Committee’s appointed auditor, Audit Scotland, by 30 September. The 2019/20 audited annual accounts were scheduled to be presented to the Executive Sub-committee on 18 September 2020 for approval and signing by the Convener, the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel and the Treasurer, in accordance with the regulations.
DECIDED:
(a) That the unaudited annual accounts for 2019/20 be noted; and
(b) That the annual governance statement be approved.