Caerphilly County Borough Council

The Auditor General for Wales' opinion is that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the Council's finances.

Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on all aspects of our society and continues to do so. You are required by law to prepare accounts and submit them for audit in line with prescribed timescales. The preparation of the 2019-20 accounts has proved a significant challenge to the Council and the initial agreed timetable for submitting the draft accounts for audit was not met, and there were a number of subsequent delays. We appreciate that the different ways of working, including working remotely from the office, not having access to hard-copy records and liaising with colleagues virtually, introduced unexpected delays in obtaining information to support the accounts. In addition, some changes in roles within the finance team, with the consequent loss of experience, has also provided a challenge.
Our audit report was unqualified. Due to the potential impact that Covid-19 has on the value of land and buildings and council dwellings, the Council's Valuer disclosed a material uncertainty within the 31 March 2020 valuation. This was reflected within Note 3 of the financial statements. We reflected this disclosure within an “emphasis of matter” paragraph in our opinion. This is not a modification or qualification of the opinion. The Greater Gwent Pension Fund, of which Caerphilly County Borough Council is an admitted body, holds investments in Pooled Property Units.  As a result of Covid-19, valuations as at 31 March 2020 were not readily available due to the closure of the markets and therefore no trade price on which to base a valuation.  The Property valuers therefore included an estimation uncertainty clause into the reports. The LGPS property assets attributable to Caerphilly County Borough Council account for £17.6m, 2.5% of total assets.  This was reflected within Note 4 of the financial statements. We reflected this disclosure within an “emphasis of matter” paragraph in our opinion. This is not a modification or qualification of the opinion.
Caerphilly County Borough Council acts as agent on behalf of Welsh Government for the procurement of technology equipment for all 22 local authorities. This has been facilitated as part of the Hwb project, the Welsh Government programme for improving the use of digital technology for teaching and learning in schools.

Funding and Spending

£-415.8 million surplus income
How is the Council funded?
£246.3 Million
Main groupings of income
Amount of income in particular area
How much has Caerphilly County Borough Council spent?
£662.1 Million
Total: £662.1 Million
A breakdown of the Total Other column in the above chart:
Total Other £ Million
Education and Lifelong Learning £194.9 Million
Social Services and Housing £153.7 Million
Communities £99.7 Million
Corporate Services £94.6 Million
HRA £44.8 Million
Total: £74.4 Million

Staff

Staff Costs £239.8 Million
Wage variances
Number of employees whose remuneration is over £60,000 per annum 91
Median remuneration £21,166
Highest paid Director £143,949
Ratio between the Council’s highest paid employee and the median position 6.8:1
Termination
Termination - number 146
Termination - value 1,247,000

What they own

£1335.6 Million
Total Assets£1335.6 Million
Property, Plant and Equipment£1158.3 Million
Heritage Assets £10.8 Million
Investments£110.9 Million
Debtors £53.7 Million
Cash and Cash Equivalents£0.7 Million
Other Assets£1.2 Million
Property, Plant and Equipment Breakdown

What they owe

£936.5 Million

Borrowing - long term

£298.5 Million

Borrowing - Short term

£5.9 Million