Qualified opinion on financial statements
I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Department of Health: Health and Social Care Pension Scheme (the Scheme) for the year ended 31 March 2022 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001. The financial statements comprise: the Statements of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, Financial Position, Cash Flows, Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and the related notes including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards as interpreted and adapted by the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM).
I have also audited the Statement of Outturn against Assembly Supply, the related notes and the information in the Accountability Report that is described in that report as having been audited.
In my opinion except for the possible effects of the matters described in the basis for opinion section of my report, the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the scheme’s affairs as at 31 March 2022 and of its net operating expenditure for the year then ended; and
- have been properly prepared in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 and Department of Finance directions issued thereunder.
Opinion on regularity
In my opinion, in all material respects:
- the Statement of Outturn against Assembly Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Assembly control totals for the year ended 31 March 2022 and shows that those totals have not been exceeded; and
- the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Assembly and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.
Basis for opinions
The audit evidence available to me was limited because the actuarial valuation of the Scheme with an effective date of 31 March 2020 is not complete and consequently, I did not receive sufficient information regarding the determination of the amount of the scheme liability in accordance with the FReM. There were no alternative means by which I could satisfy myself regarding the valuation of these liabilities. I was therefore unable to determine whether any adjustments to the scheme liability were necessary.
I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) (UK), applicable law and Practice Note 10 ‘Audit of Financial Statements and Regularity of Public Sector Bodiesin the United Kingdom’. My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of this certificate. My staff and I are independent of Department of Health: Health and Social Care Pension Scheme in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK,
including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. I believe that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinions.
Conclusions relating to going concern
The going concern basis of accounting for the Scheme is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in the FReM, which require entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future. In auditing the financial statements, I have concluded that Scheme’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Scheme’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Accounting Officer with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other Information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements, the parts of the Accountability Report described in that report as having been audited and my audit certificate and report. The Accounting Officer is responsible for the other information. My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my report, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.
I have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinion on other matters
In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the parts of the Accountability Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with Department of Finance directions made under the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001; and
- the information given in the Accountability Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.
Matters on which I report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Scheme and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in other information.
I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
- the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with the Department of Finance’s guidance.
Except for the matter referred to in the basis for opinions section, I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
- I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit.
Responsibilities of the Accounting Officer for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accounting Officer is responsible for:
- the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view;
- such internal controls as the Accounting Officer determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud of error;
- assessing the Scheme’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Accounting Officer anticipates that the services provided by Scheme will not continue to be provided in the future.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
My responsibility is to audit, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001.
My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error and to issue a certificate that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulation, including fraud.
My procedures included:
- obtaining an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the Scheme through discussion with management and application of extensive public sector accountability knowledge. The key laws and regulations I considered included Government Resources and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001;
- making enquires of management and those charged with governance on the Scheme’s compliance with laws and regulations;
- making enquiries of internal audit, management and those charged with governance as to susceptibility to irregularity and fraud, their assessment of the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and irregularity, and their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud and irregularity;
- completing risk assessment procedures to assess the susceptibility of Scheme’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur. This included, but was not limited to, an engagement director led engagement team discussion on fraud to identify particular areas, transaction streams and business practices that may be susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. As part of this discussion, I identified potential for fraud in the following areas: management override of controls; and presentation of the Statement of Assembly Supply;
- engagement director oversight to ensure the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework throughout the audit;
- documenting and evaluating the design and implementation of internal controls in place to mitigate risk of material misstatement due to fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations;
- designing audit procedures to address specific laws and regulations which the engagement team considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements in terms of misstatement and irregularity, including fraud. These audit procedures included, but were not limited to, reading board and committee minutes, and agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation and approvals as appropriate;
- addressing the risk of fraud as a result of management override of controls by:
- performing analytical procedures to identify unusual or unexpected relationships or movements;
- testing journal entries to identify potential anomalies, and inappropriate or unauthorised adjustments;
- assessing whether judgements and other assumptions made in determining accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and
- investigating significant or unusual transactions made outside of the normal course of business.
A further description of my responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my certificate.
In addition, I am required to obtain evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the Statement of Outturn against Assembly Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Assembly control totals and that those totals have not been exceeded. I am also required to obtain evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by the Assembly and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.
Report
As indicated above, I have qualified my audit opinion on these financial statements because the audit evidence available to me was limited. The actuarial valuation of the Scheme liabilities with an effective date of 31 March 2020 is not complete. I have been advised that it was not practicable to utilise membership data for the Scheme as at 31 March 2020 in the roll forward valuation within the time parameters available. The present value of the scheme liability has been calculated by rolling forward the liability calculated as at 31 March 2016 (the last full valuation of the Scheme) to 31 March 2022. This is not in accordance with the FReM requirement for actuarial valuations to be completed every four years. I have therefore not obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support my audit opinion on the financial statements in respect of this matter.
I would encourage the Scheme to ensure that actuarial valuations are completed in accordance with the FReM at least every four years.
KJ Donnelly
Comptroller and Auditor General
Northern Ireland Audit Office
1 Bradford Court
Galwally
BELFAST
BT8 6RB
7 July 2022