The external auditor is looking into four objections from a local resident on Cheshire East Council's 2023/24 financial statements.

Hassan Rohimun, of Ernst & Young, has not revealed what the objections are but told the council's audit and governance committee this week that they would not be in a position to issue an opinion on the accounts until the objections have been considered.

Committee chair Michael Beanland (Poynton, Con) said: "I realise there's confidentiality surrounding the questions that have been raised, but I just wonder what kind of objections they were.

"Are they general or are they fairly specific? And is there any kind of timeline that the response will be activated?"

Mr Rohimun replied: "There were four objections that we've received. They relate to governance areas.

"We're looking to complete our work on considering the objections in March."

He said the findings and conclusions are then outlined to the council and objector.

"There's a period then for council to come back and to provide any additional information, and there's also, within that period, the objector could also come back with further points," said Mr Rohimun.

He told the committee the matter would likely be concluded by April, adding there would be additional audit fees to the council for considering the objection.

On a separate matter, Disley councillor Cllr Sue Adams (Con), was critical of the council for not doing the basics when it comes to finance.

The auditor's report revealed that bank reconciliation was not prepared on a regular basis.

A bank reconciliation statement is a document prepared by a company or organisation which shows its recorded bank account balance matches the balance the bank lists.

It includes all transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, over a given period.

The auditor's report states: "As a result of changes in the finance team and capacity issues during the year the bank reconciliation was not undertaken on a monthly basis.

"We noted that the year end March 31, 2024, bank reconciliation was not completed until October 2024.

"The bank reconciliation is a fundamental control and management should ensure there are at least up to date monthly reconciliations undertaken during the year."

Cllr Adams told the meeting: "This is such a fundamental control for any organisation, I can't quite believe this."

She was told the reconciliations are normally done monthly and are now up to date, but there was a time during 2023/24 where they weren't completed due to resourcing issues.

The committee was assured the finance department is fully staffed now.

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