Annual Audit Letter 2024 - 2025

Statement of accounts

1. The accounts should be prepared in accordance with International Financial Accounting Standards as interpreted for Local Government in the, `Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom’.
2. The financial statements were signed by the Chief Financial Officer and submitted for audit on 27 June 2025. Due to issues requiring further enquiry, the accounts could not be completed or certified by the 30 September deadline. As required, a notice was placed on the Belfast City Council website to advise that the audit had not been completed by the deadline.
3. Following completion of the audit, the Statement of Accounts was approved by the council and certified by me on 23 January 2026. The Statement of Accounts is published on the council’s website.
4. On conclusion of the audit, the 2005 Order requires me to issue a certificate stating the audit is complete and to give an opinion on the statement of the accounts. The audit certificate and opinion are contained within the Statement of Accounts.

Audit certificate and opinion

5. For the year ended 31 March 2025, I gave the following unqualified opinion on the financial statements.
   In my opinion:
   1. the financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with relevant legal and statutory requirements and the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2024-25, of the financial position of the council and its group as at 31 March 2025, and its income and expenditure for the year then ended, and
   2. the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Local Government (Accounts and Audit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and the Department for Communities’ directions issued thereunder.
6. At the end of the audit, I issue a report to those charged with governance, addressed to the Chief Executive of the council, on the results of the audit, noting the most significant issues, making recommendations and seeking comments. That report is presented separately to the Audit and Risk Panel.

   Bank and cash reconciliations

   During 2024-25, Belfast City Council implemented a new financial system. We were not made aware that there were any issues with this system and its interfaces with bank and cash until the later stages of the audit. This was only after significant time was spent on auditing the bank reconciliations and identifying errors.

   Several of the bank reconciliations at the year-end included significant lists of unreconciled items as part of the overall reconciliation. The draft financial statements for 2024-25 had therefore been prepared using bank reconciliations (a key control) which included a large number of unreconciled items. This created a significant risk that the draft financial statements could have been materially misstated.

   Following our observations, bank reconciliations were reperformed as at 31 March 2025. These reconciliations did result in material adjustments to the draft financial statements.

Council’s group structure

The council’s group accounts include:

• Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Ltd, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary with a net turnover in 2024-25 of £10,732k (2023-24 £12,926k) and net assets of £11k (2023-24 of £11k). The company is responsible for meeting strategic targets set by the council regarding the successful running of Belfast Waterfront Hall, International Convention Centre and the Ulster Hall.
• BelTel LLP is a joint venture between the council and McAleer & Rushe. Its main purpose is the development of the former Belfast Telegraph building, renamed “The Sixth”, into a state-of-the-art working space which could attract both national and international occupiers. Its aim is to support the redevelopment of this part of the city and compliment investment from the relocation of Ulster University’s campus. The council currently holds a 46 per cent interest in the venture with a net investment of £3.4m recorded in the financial statements as at 31 March 2025.

The results of Belfast Gasworks Management Co Ltd are not deemed material to the Belfast City Council accounts and as such are not included in the group financial statements.