OBJECTIONS to Bournemouth council’s accounts made by a resident in three of the last four years have cost the authority an estimated £20,000 to investigate.

Councillors were told on Tuesday that none of the complaints had changed the opinions of auditors but that they had “not been without cost to the public purse”.

The objections have not been made public but previous statements of accounts published by the council refer to concerns raised about “senior officer renumeration”.

Reporting on the results of its external audit for last year at Tuesday’s meeting of the full council, its audit and governance committee, Ben Grower, said that the complaints had not had a “material effect” on its statements.

He said: “There was one objection to the statement of accounts from a member of the public.

“The external auditors are satisfied that this matter does not have a material effect on the financial statements nor on their conclusion on the council’s arrangements for securing value for money in its use of resources for the year.

“The external auditors will not be able to officially certify the 2017/18 accounts until a complete review of the objections has been concluded.”

He said that the complainant had lodged similar objections in three of the previous four years but that none had “changed the auditors’ unqualified opinions”.

Investigating the objections has cost the council £20,000 in addition to “significant” staff time,” he added.

Although the audit, carried out by Grant Thornton, has approved the council’s financial statements, it does recommend that the authority “considers more detailed reporting” of its saving plans in its budget-setting and monitoring reports.

However, Mr Grower said that he believed that the council was able to hand over all internal audit and governance issues in a “satisfactory state” to the new council.