The Treasury has this week released the audited Government’s Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011. These Accounts are the financial report style version of the Accounts and are subject to audit by the Public Auditors. In accordance with the Audit Act 2006 they will be formally laid before the November 2011 sitting of Tynwald. The detailed, unaudited management version of the Accounts was issued earlier in the year in May 2011 (Detailed Government Accounts, GD 0014/11) showing an increase in the General Revenue Account balance of ?9.6 million, with the audit affirming the figures presented as follows: • Treasury income of ?538 million. • Net revenue expenditure of ?528 million. • Capital expenditure of ?73 million. • Revenue surplus of ?10 million. The audited Accounts are the fourth to be prepared by Treasury in accordance with the Audit Act 2006 and have undergone significant changes from the previous year with full accounting for fixed assets and employee pension schemes being adopted in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards and give a greater level of financial information within the Accounts. The report of the external auditor, which has been prepared in accordance with International Auditing Standards, has confirmed that the Accounts give a true and fair view of the Government’s financial position. The changes to the presentation of the Accounts require figures presented previously to be restated by applying accounting adjustments required by Accounting Standards. These adjustments are non-cash adjustments, that is, they do not represent cash receipts or cash payments made during the year. The non-cash adjustments made to figures within the Government’s Income and Expenditure Account are then removed through the Statement of Total Movement on the General Revenue Account Balance to leave the surplus for the year of ?10 million as previously reported. Roughly half the new adjustments to the Income and Expenditure Account arise from the increased valuation of fixed assets (land, buildings, infrastructure) which causes higher annual charges to be applied as the assets are used. In accordance with the requirements of Accounting Standards, Government’s fixed assets will be re-valued on an on-going basis and these valuations are likely to offset the additional annual charges applied. The remainder of the new adjustments arise from changes to how the Government’s occupational pension schemes are reported. The Government Balance Sheet includes similar non-cash adjustments to show fixed assets having a value of ?3.0 billion and the Government employee pension schemes’ liability at ?1.8 billion. The pension liability is in line with expectations at the time of the Budget in February 2011, and is higher than figures previously published due to a more prudent, fixed method of calculation being prescribed in Accounting Standards. The Government remains committed to the introduction of the Government Unified Scheme approved by Tynwald in July 2011 in order to ensure its occupational pension schemes are appropriate and affordable. Other non-cash adjustments (which have been applied in recent years) include the market value (?1.9 billion) and income from Government invested reserves (?50 million), the inclusion of the non-revenue funded Statutory Boards and owned companies, (net deficit of ?4 million, mainly as a result of the Manx Electricity Authority’s results) and a number of smaller adjustments required to comply with Accounting Standards. The non-cash transactions are not included in the Government Budget as they do not represent cash receipts or cash payments and arise from movements in the value of assets and liabilities held for the long-term. The accounting policies applied in respect of the calculation of the income and expenditure figures contained within the Budget are consistent year on year and represent an accurate presentation of the costs of the major services provided by Government through funds voted by Tynwald.