Audit Opinion

We have audited the Statement of Accounts which have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies applicable to local authorities and the Pension Fund Accounts, which have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies applicable to pension funds.

This report is made solely to Leicestershire County Council in accordance with Part II of the Audit Commission Act 1998 and for no other purpose, as set out in paragraph 54 of the Statement of Responsibilities of Auditors and of Audited Bodies, prepared by the Audit Commission.

As described in the Statement of Responsibilities, the Director of Resources is responsible for the preparation of the Statement of Accounts in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2002. Our responsibilities, as independent auditors, are established by statute, the Code of Audit Practice issued by the Audit Commission and our profession’s ethical guidance.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the Statement of Accounts presents fairly:

• the financial position of the Council and its income and expenditure for the year,
• the financial transactions of its Pension Fund during the year and the amount and disposition of the Fund’s assets and liabilities, other than liabilities to pay pensions and benefits after the end of the scheme year.

We review whether the statement on the System of Internal Financial Control reflects compliance with the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2002. We report if it does not meet the requirements specified by CIPFA/LASAAC or if the statement is misleading or inconsistent with other information we are aware of from our audit of the Statement of Accounts. We are not required to consider whether the statement on internal financial control covers all risks and controls, or to form an opinion on the effectiveness of the authority’s system on internal financial control. Our review was not performed for any purpose connected with any specific transaction and should not be relied upon for any such purpose.

We read the other information published with the statement of accounts and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Statement of Accounts.

Basis of Audit Opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with the Audit Commission Act 1998 and the Code of Audit Practice issued by the Audit Commission, which requires compliance with relevant auditing standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board.

An audit included examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the Statement of Accounts. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the Council in the preparation of the Statement of Accounts, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Council’s circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

In our opinion the Statement of Accounts present fairly the financial position of Leicestershire County Council as at 31 March 2003 and its income and expenditure for the year then ended.

In our opinion the Statement of Accounts presents fairly the financial transactions of Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund during the year ended 31 March 2003, and of the amount and disposition at that date of its assets and liabilities, other than liabilities to pay pensions and benefits after the end of the scheme year.

We certify that we have completed the audit of accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Audit Commission Act 1998 and the Code of Audit Practice issued by the Audit Commission.