The North East Surrey Crematorium Board (NESCB) has received a positive audit report and underspent its budget for the past year. The board, comprised of councillors from Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton councils1, met on Tuesday, 24 June 2025, to discuss the findings and future projects.
1: The following councillors sit on the North East Surrey Crematorium Board:
- Chair: Councillor Annamarie Critchard, London Borough of Wandsworth
- Vice-Chair Councillor John Oliver, London Borough of Merton
- Members: Councillor Cumar Sahathevan, London Borough of Sutton Councillor Jake Short, London Borough of Sutton Councillor Sara Apps, London Borough of Wandsworth Councillor Tony Belton, London Borough of Wandsworth Councillor Rosemary Birchall, London Borough of Wandsworth Councillor Angela Graham, London Borough of Wandsworth Councillor Michael Butcher, London Borough of Merton Councillor Billy Hayes, London Borough of Merton Councillor Stephen Mercer, London Borough of Merton
- Substitutes: Councillors Rob Beck, London Borough of Sutton, Juliana Annan, Lindon Borough of Wandsworth
The treasurer's report, presented to the board, highlighted a full-year underspend of £15,421 against the approved budget of £56,800 for major works and projects scheduled for 2024/25. The underspend related to the Garden of Remembrance – Stage 2 project and the Main Drive Pathway scheme, where options are still being considered due to increased cost estimates. Delayed schemes will be moved into the 2025/26 capital programme. Additionally, there was a £4,916 underspend against the £830,000 approved budget for the management agreement. According to the Treasurer's Report, the main reasons for the underspend on the Management Agreement were due to underspends across Other Operational Costs (-£11,580) and Memorials (-£40,145) which offset an overspend on Utility Costs (+£38,826). The report also showed a surplus of £464,848 for the year, with retained funds totaling £1,064,152. The distribution of surplus balances for the year amounted to £300,000, and a further contribution to the Cremator Replacement Reserve (+£80,000) has been made. The balance on this reserve now stands at £700,000 as at the end of the year. The balance on the Common Fund being £364,152.
The NESCB Internal Audit Report 2024-25 gave a reasonable assurance opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the internal controls that have been subject to review. The report made three recommendations to improve internal controls2, including clarifying bank reconciliation review expectations, completing outstanding health and safety training, and recording security tag numbers on inventory lists.
2: The potential risks and timelines for addressing the recommendations are as follows:
- Bank reconciliations: The potential risk is that NESCB income has not been accurately recorded in the Cashbook, financial records and per the annual return. Amended controls will be implemented to remove the possibility of errors occurring with formula dependant checks. Additionally, a check list will be prepared which sets out the requirements of the reconciliation and the specific verification that needs to be undertaken including saving dated copies of the final reconciliation and check list. Implementation date: To be implemented during the Q1 25/26 reconciliation process. By the end of July 2025.
- Health and Safety Training: The potential risk is that staff are not aware of Health and Safety risks. There is potential for an accident leading to injury or loss of life to residents and staff. Outstanding training requirements to be completed as soon as possible. To be overseen by the Crematorium Manager. Staff training records will be regularly reviewed as part of the Surveyor's quarterly inspection regime. Implementation date: All outstanding training to be completed by end of June 2025.
- Inventory List: Where insufficient inventory details are recorded, in the event of loss/theft/damage there is a risk of not being able to identify missing assets which may impact making a claim for insurance. Where new assets and inventories are purchased details are added to the inventory lists as a matter of routine. For historic items, in conjunction with the Crematorium Manager, an exercise is underway to identify, where possible, make, model and serial numbers and add as required. It should be noted that on older items this detail may not be available. Implementation date: End of Q1 2025/26.
The board approved Section 1, the Annual Governance Statement, and Section 2, the Accounting Statements, of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for the year ending 31 March 2025.
