2023-03-31-accounts

MEMORIAL GARDENS TRUST ANNUAL TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDING 31ST MARCH 2023

Dear Trustee,

Please find below the annual report for the Memorial Gardens Trust.

Castle Café

Next rent review due in December 2024 as per terms of the lease. The lease is currently being renewed. Expenditure on Castle Café was £920 for general repairs.

Withernsea Coastguard Station.

The lease for the for the land at the Coastguard Station is currently being renewed.

Memorial Car Park

Car parking receipts totalled £22034.00 nett of VAT (compared with £22395 last year). This remains very good, whilst weather dependant the car park remains busy. The seasonal contract begins on good Friday and remains 7 days a week until the end of September. The current parking fees are:

Cars

3.50 per day Seasonal Passes are £45 and limited to 10 only.

Memorial Gardens

The gardens remain well tended. The Odyssey light show took place on the gardens at Christmas which was very well attended, there were very few events in there over the summer.

The 6 month transfers (paid to Withernsea Town Council for work done on Memorial Land by the outside workers, and administration) totalled £10,000.

The £1000 annual budget agreed for planting has made a big difference. The gardens are mainly looked after by Chris Herd who is doing a good job in maintaining them. Some repainting of bins and seats has been undertaken and a section of the wall has now been removed to link to the Italian Gardens. Removable Flag poles have been added to the beds either side of the war memorial. A new addition to the gardens is the ‘Gansey’ puffin. The car park linings are to be re-painted.

Yorkshire Water pumping station remains in urgent need of repair, mainly to the interior. Some cosmetic tidying up is still needed and has been reported constantly to Yorkshire Water. They assure us that the work will be undertaken shortly (March 2023).

Car boot sales for the Christmas Lights appeal continue to take place seasonally. The Memorial Trust receive a cut of the car boot fees.

The unaudited draft annual accounts are attached to this report – a copy is available on the table.

The Charity Commission’s Annual Return will be completed when it is required.

Signed,

A.J. Moxon PSLCC– Secretary to the Trustees.

ANNUAL RETURN

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Memorial Gardens Trust

SECTION 2 - THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

I certify that the accounts contained in this return present fairly the financial position of the council, are consistant with the underlying financial records and have been prepared on the basis of Income and Expenditure.

Responsible Financial Officer Date Signed on behalf of the above Council (Chair) Dated Date I confirm that these accounts are approved by the Council and recorded as council minute reference		Date
		Date

		Last Year £	This Year £	General Notes for Guidance
1	Balances brought	47,239	47,867	Total balances and reserves at the beginning of the year as recorded
	forward			in the financial records. Value must agree to Box 7 of the previous
				year.
3	(+) Total other	30,673	29,476	Total income or receipts as recorded in the cashbook less the
	receipts			precept or rates/levies received (line 2). Include any grants received.
4	(-) Staff costs	7,148	7,011	Total expenditure or payments made to and on behalf of all
				employees. Include gross salaries and wages, employers NI
				contributions, employers pension contributions, gratuities and
				severance payments.
5	(-) Loan	0	0	Total expenditure or payments of capital and interest made during
	interest/capital			the year on the authority’s borrowings (if any).
	repayments
6	(-) All other	22,897	17,771	Total expenditure or payments as recorded in the cashbook less
	payments			staff costs (line 4) and loan interest/capital repayments (line 5).
7	(=) Balances	47,867	52,561	Total balances and reserves at the end of the year. [Must equal
	carried forward			(1+2+3)-(4+5+6)]
8	Total value of	47,721	52,301	The sum of all current and deposit bank accounts, cash holdings
	cash and short			and short term investments held as at 31 March – To agree with
	term investments			bank reconciliation.
9	Total fixed assets	0	0	The value of all the property the authority owns – it is made up of all
	plus long term			its fixed assets and long term investments as at 31 March.
	investments and
	assets
10	Total borrowings	0	0	The outstanding capital balance as at 31 March of all loans from
				third parties (including PWLB).

The following documents should accompany the accounts when submitted to the auditor:

• A brief explanation of significant variations from last year to this year in Section 2;

• Bank Reconciliation as at 31 March

Withernsea Town Council Final Internal Audit 2022/2023

Antony Rookes FCCA

9[th] June 2023

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Background and Scope

There is a statutory requirement for all town and parish councils to make arrangements for an independent internal audit examination of their accounting records and system of internal control each year and for the conclusions to be reported in the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). Southgates, Chartered Certified Accountants were appointed to provide this service to Withernsea Town Council for the 2022/2023 financial year.

This report sets out the results of our final audit in relation to 2022/2023 and should be read in conjunction with our interim audit report dated 18[th] January 2023, which was undertaken in December 2022 and January 2023. We wish to thank the Town Clerk and her colleagues for providing the documentation required for review in an electronic format.

Internal Audit Approach

In carrying out our internal audit work for the year, we have had regard to the materiality of transactions and their susceptibility to potential mis-recording or misrepresentation in the year-end Statement of Accounts (AGAR), operating a mix of 100% substantive or selected sampling techniques where considered applicable.

Our audit programme is designed to afford appropriate assurance that the Council’s financial systems remain robust and operate in a manner to ensure effective probity of transactions and to afford a reasonable probability of identifying material errors or possible abuse of the Council’s own and the national statutory regulatory framework. The programme is also designed to facilitate our completion of the ‘Internal Audit Report’ in the AGAR, which requires independent assurance over a number of internal control objectives.

Overall Conclusion

On the basis of the programme of work we have undertaken for the year, we have concluded that the Council continues to maintain an adequate and effective system of internal control. The records held in support of the accounting transactions continue to be of a high standard and provide an effective audit trail, with clear cross-referencing of all relevant documentation.

In the sections below, we have explained the objectives of each area of our audit, summarising the work undertaken and our findings. Other than 2 minor points which we detail later, we are pleased to report that there are no matters arising that require a recommendation for further action. We ask that Members consider the content of this report.

This report has been prepared for the sole use of Withernsea Town Council. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no responsibility or liability is accepted by Southgates, Chartered Certified Accountants to any third party who purports to use or rely, for any reason whatsoever, on this report, its contents or conclusions.

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Detailed Report

Accounting and Banking Arrangements

Our objective in this area is to confirm that the accounting records are being maintained accurately and kept up to date, that no anomalous entries appear in cashbooks or financial ledgers, and that appropriate banking arrangements are in place.

As in previous years, the Rialtas accountancy package is used to maintain the financial records.

Banking services continue to be provided by Lloyds Bank Plc.

In the course of our interim audit, we have:

• Checked that the opening Rialtas trial balance agrees with the closing balances in the 2021/2022 AGAR;

• Confirmed that the ledger remained in balance at the time of our interim audit;

• Confirmed that the cost centre and nominal ledger coding structure remains appropriate for the Council’s needs;

• Checked and agreed the detail on the Omega combined cash book for the Business Current Account and Business Premium Account, examining the transactions for two sample months (December 2022 and March 2023), agreeing these to the supporting bank statements;

• Similarly, checked and agreed the detail of transactions on the Salaries cashbook, again agreeing these to the supporting bank statements for the sample months;

• Checked and agreed the bank reconciliations as at 31[st] March 2023 on all accounts, confirming that reconciliations continue to be prepared routinely at the close of each month and that there is evidence of independent review, and

• Confirmed, through discussion with the Town Clerk, that the Rialtas accounts and booking system are regularly backed up to the Council’s server, which is itself backed-up to the ‘Cloud’ each evening.

Conclusion

On the basis of our audit work, we consider that the controls in place in this area were adequate and were operating effectively. The bank reconciliation for September 2022 did include an amount of £144.92 relating to a duplicate entry (Edwards entered twice) in April 2022. As at 31[st] March 2023 this had reversed and is now resolved. There are no other matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation.

Corporate Governance

Our objective is to confirm that the Council has robust corporate governance arrangements in place and that, as far as we may reasonably be expected to ascertain (as we do not attend Council meetings), all meetings are conducted in an appropriate manner and no actions of a potentially unlawful nature have been, or are being, considered for implementation.

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During the course of our interim audit, we have confirmed the following:

• Our review of the minutes of the Council and Committee meetings for the year to date did not identify any issues that we consider may have an adverse effect, through litigation or other causes, on the Council’s future financial stability;

• The review of minutes also confirmed that the Council has taken appropriate measure to ensure that it is able to maintain effective governance arrangements;

Conclusion

On the basis of our audit work to date, we are satisfied that the Council continues to adopt a sound approach to its corporate governance responsibilities. There are no matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation.

Expenditure

Our objective in this area is to ensure that:

• Council resources are released in accordance with approved procedures and budgets;

• Payments are supported by appropriate documentation, either in the form of an original trade invoice or other appropriate form of document confirming the payment as due and/or an acknowledgement of receipt where no other form of invoice is available;

• The correct expense codes have been applied to invoices when processed; and

• VAT has been appropriately identified and coded to the control account for periodic recovery.

We have commenced our testing of expenditure for 2022/2023. In total, we examined a sample of a further 24 payments for the year to 31[st] March 2023. Our sample included all individual payments, as recorded in the accounts. The total value of items in our sample was £20875.51, including VAT.

We have confirmed that VAT returns continue to be completed in a timely and accurate manner, with electronic “on-line” submission in place, in line with current HMRC requirements. We have examined the reclaims for the first two quarters, confirming that the submissions agreed to the Omega VAT control account.

Conclusion

On the basis of our review, we are satisfied that the arrangements in place for the coding and authorisation of payments are sound, with adequate supporting documentation present for all payments in our test sample, and that appropriate action has been taken with regard to the re-claim of VAT. There are no matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation.

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Budget setting, budgetary control and reserves

Our objective here is to confirm that the Council has robust procedures in place for identifying and approving its future budgetary requirements and the level of Precept to be drawn down from East Riding of Yorkshire Council: also, that an effective reporting and monitoring process is in place. We also aim to confirm that the Council retains sufficient funds in earmarked and general reserves to finance its ongoing spending plans and to cover any unplanned expenditure that might arise.

From our review of the minutes, we noted that Members continue to be provided with budget monitoring reports and formal bank reconciliations during the year, with the detail now being considered by the FB&S Committee rather than by the full Council.

We will reviewed the approach taken by the Council in determining its budget and Precept requirements for 2023/2024, and reviewed its reserves position and believe these to be based on good sound assumptions .

Conclusion

On the basis of our audit work in this area to date, we consider that the budgetary control arrangements are adequate and are operating effectively. There are no matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation.

Income

In considering the Council’s income streams, our objective is to confirm that robust systems are in place to ensure the identification of all income due to the Council from its various sources, that invoices are raised in a timely manner and that effective procedures are in place to pursue recovery of any outstanding monies due to the Council.

In our final audit, we undertook the following work:

• We examined a sample of Cemetery related activities for the period 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] May 2022, that the invoices subsequently raised were in order and that the income due was received and banked on a timely basis;

• We examined the Sales Ledger “Aged Debtors Report” as at 31[st] March 2023. We were pleased to note that the overall value of long-standing debts is very low and we confirmed that effective control arrangements remain in place, with appropriate action being taken in relation to outstanding payments.

Conclusion

On the basis of our audit work in this area to date, we consider that the controls over income are adequate and are operating effectively. There are no matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation

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Salaries and Wages

In examining the Council’s payroll function, our objective is to confirm that employment legislation is being adhered to, that the requirements of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) legislation are satisfied regarding the deduction and payment over of income tax and NI contributions and that the requirements of the local government pension scheme are met.

To confirm compliance with the above criteria, we have:

• Ensured that Tax and National Insurance deductions for all employees have been made applying the appropriate PAYE code and NIC Table following the annual budgetary increases in personal allowances with effect from April 2022;

• Checked that the correct local authority pension scheme percentage deductions are being applied, where applicable;

• Ensured that any variations to standard payments, such as overtime and mileage, have been subject to formal timesheet records and approval by senior officers;

• Verified the net payments to staff from payslips to the summary BACS settlement reports; and

• Checked and agreed the payments to HMRC and the Pension Fund.

Conclusion

In the course of our sample testing, we noted at out interim audit, that the copy employee payslips do not include a full breakdown of the additional hours and pay rates which are included within the gross taxable pay figure. A full breakdown is required under employment law. There are no other matters arising that require a formal comment or recommendation for further action.