Audit Opinion

We have audited the Statement of Accounts on pages 2 to 47 which have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies applicable to local authorities as set out on pages 13 to 18 and the Pension Fund Accounts, on pages 48 to 55, which have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies applicable to pension funds set out on page 48.

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 on page 7, 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 2003.  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:

We review whether the statement on internal control on pages 8 to 10 reflects compliance with CIPFA’s guidance “The Statement on Internal Control in Local Government: Meeting the requirements of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003” published on 2 April 2004.  We report if it does not comply with proper practices specified by CIPFA 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 control covers all risks and controls.  We are also not required to form an opinion on the effectiveness of the authority’s corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.  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.

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.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the Statement of Accounts are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error.  In forming our opinion, we evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the Statement of Accounts.

In our opinion the Statement of Accounts present fairly the financial position of Leicestershire County Council as at 31 March 2004 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 2004, 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.