2023-03-31-annual-return - National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland

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NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

3.5 The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Opinion on financial statements

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the National Museums NI for the year ended 31 March 2023 under the Museums and Galleries (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. The financial statements comprise: the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement; and the related notes including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom applicable in the United Kingdom and Republi Accounting Practice).

I have also audited the information in Accountability Report that is described in that report as having been audited.

In my opinion the financial statements:

give a true and fair view 2023 and of its total incoming resources and expenditure of resources for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102); and
have been properly prepared in accordance with the Museums and Galleries (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and Department for Communities directions issued thereunder.

Opinion on regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Assembly and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Basis for opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) (UK), applicable responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of this certificate.

My staff and I are independent of National Museums NI in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the Financial Reporting these requirements.

I believe that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinions.

Conclusions relating to going concern

concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Based on the work I have performed, I have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified any material uncertainties that relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt about on the National Museums NI's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

The going concern basis of accounting for National Museums NI is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in the Government Reporting Manual, which require entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future.

My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees and the Chief Executive with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other Information

The other information comprises the financial statements, the parts of the Accountability Report described in that report as having been audited, and my audit certificate and report. The Trustees and the Chief Executive are responsible for the other information included in the annual report. My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my report, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.

I have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters

In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the parts of the Accountability Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with Department for Communities directions made under the Museums and Galleries (Northern Ireland) Order 1998; and
the information given in the Performance and Accountability Reports for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which I report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the National Museums NI and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in the Performance Report and Accountability Report.

I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the parts of the Accountability Report to be audited are not in agreement with the accounting records; or

NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

certain disclosures of remuneration specified by the Government Financial Report Manual are not made; or
I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit; or guidance.

Responsibilities of the Trustees and Accounting Officer for the financial statements

Trustees and the Chief Executive as Accounting Officer are responsible for:

the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view;
such internal controls as the Trustees and Accounting Officer determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud of error;
as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees and Accounting Officer anticipates that the services provided by National Museums NI will not continue to be provided in the future.

My responsibility is to examine, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Museum and Galleries (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.

My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error and to issue a certificate that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulation, including fraud.

My procedures included:

obtaining an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the National Museums NI through discussion with management and application of extensive public sector accountability knowledge. The key laws and regulations I considered included Museum and Galleries (Northern Ireland) Order 1998;
making enquires of management and those charged with governance on National
making enquiries of internal audit, management and those charged with governance as to susceptibility to irregularity and fraud, their assessment of the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and irregularity, and their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud and irregularity;

NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

completing risk assessment procedures to assess the susceptibility of National occur. This included, but was not limited to, an engagement director led engagement team discussion on fraud to identify particular areas, transaction streams and business practices that may be susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. As part of this discussion, I identified potential for fraud in the following areas: management override of controls through the posting of unusual journals, revenue recognition, and the extent of management bias within key accounting estimates;
engagement director oversight to ensure the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework throughout the audit;
documenting and evaluating the design and implementation of internal controls in place to mitigate risk of material misstatement due to fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations;
designing audit procedures to address specific laws and regulations which the engagement team considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements in terms of misstatement and irregularity, including fraud. These audit procedures included, but were not limited to, reading board and committee minutes, and agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation and approvals as appropriate; and
addressing the risk of fraud as a result of management override of controls by:
performing analytical procedures to identify unusual or unexpected relationships or movements;
testing journal entries to identify potential anomalies, and inappropriate or unauthorised adjustments;
assessing whether judgements and other assumptions made in determining accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and
investigating significant or unusual transactions made outside of the normal course of business.

A further description of my responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my certificate.

In addition, I am required to obtain evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Assembly and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Report

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Dorinnia Carville Comptroller and Auditor General Northern Ireland Audit Office 106 University Street BELFAST BT7 1EU

20 October 2023