1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1     Following their decision not to provide external audit services King & Taylor ceased to be the appointed external auditors to the Charity at the end of the 2013/14 financial year.

1.2     King & Taylor passed responsibility for the 2014/15 external audit to another local audit company, UHY Hacker Young. This report seeks to approve their continued appointment for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1     Until 2013/14 external audit services were provided by King & Taylor. However they took a business decision to cease providing these services to all their existing clients, and they passed responsibility for the 2014/15 audit to another local company, UHY Hacker Young.

2.2     The Charity follows Maidstone Borough Council’s contracts procedures rules, and these specify that for contracts of a value of £10,000 or less at least one written quote must be obtained. For 2014/15 the cost of the audit was £4,775 plus VAT. UHY Hacker Young were asked to provide a quote, and they have responded with a figure of £4,860 plus VAT, which represents an inflationary increase of 1.75%.

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     Under the current statutory audit thresholds for charities there is no requirement for an external audit, an independent examination would suffice. This is a simpler form of scrutiny than an audit but it would still provide an assurance that the accounts have been the subject of an independent review. However the Charity has previously taken the decision that it would like an external audit to be undertaken.

3.2     The Charity could chose to ask for more than one quote for the external audit service and possibly appoint a different auditor.                                                                                                                

3.3     The Charity could appoint UHY Hacker Young as external auditor for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     It is recommended that UHY Hacker Young are appointed as external auditors to the Charity for 2015/16 and 2016/17. The nature of the Charity and its relationship with the Council means that the financial transactions and arrangements are somewhat complex, and as UHY Hacker Young have started to develop an understanding of this it would seem appropriate to continue to use them. They have also developed a good working relationship with Council officers. Any new auditors would have to develop their own understanding of the Charity and develop new working relationships with officers.

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1     Not applicable.

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1     If the recommendation is agreed UHY Hacker Young will be formally requested to provide external audit services for 2015/16 and 2016/17.

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

·         None

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

·         None