Issue - meetings

To consider the attached report of the Director of Finance and the Assistant Director of Pensions, Local Investments and Property.

The Assistant Director of Pensions (Local Investments and Property) submitted a report informing Members of the governance arrangements for approval of the accounts for Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) as part of the accounts of Tameside MBC as administering authority.  The report also asked Members to note the key assumptions for estimates used in the accounts.

It was reported that the governance arrangements for approval of the accounts were consistent with last year, when they were brought forward as a consequence of changes to the statutory deadlines for local authorities to produce their accounts, which became mandatory in 2018.

It was explained that the key decision making bodies for the Council were the Audit Panel, which received accounting policy reports for both GMPF and the Council, and the Overview (Audit) Panel, which received the report of the external auditor following the audit of the accounts.  The Council retained overall responsibility for the accounts of both and the follow-up on the audit reports received for both, but in practice delegated the responsibility for GMPF to GMPF.

The provisional timetable for approval of the accounts and audit reports by these bodies for 2018/19 was outlined in the report.  The plan for the year was for the pre-audit accounts to be signed off by the S151 officer by 31 May 2017 with the external audit commencing thereafter and the process to be completed by 31 July 2017.

The key continuing assumptions used in production of the accounts included accruals basis, fair value for investments, market prices at bid where possible, compliance with accounting standards and best practice for non-listed assets, liabilities in compliance with International Accounting Standard 19 and continued phased implementation of CIPFA’s guidance on accounting for management costs in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

RESOLVED:

(i)           That the governance arrangements for approval of GMPF accounts be noted; and

(ii)          The assumptions for estimates to be used in the GMPF accounts be noted.