The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 received Royal Assent on 30 January.
The Act sets out a new audit framework for local authorities
which are currently covered by the Audit Commission regime. Under this
new framework, parish councils with an annual turnover not exceeding
£25,000 will be exempt from routine external audit. Instead, these
parish councils will be subject to new transparency requirements.
On 10 March 2014 the Government launched a consultation on a
draft transparency code for parish councils with a turnover not
exceeding £25,000. The purpose of this consultation was to gauge the
views of organisations affected by the proposed code, and any other
parties with an interest in local audit and transparency. The
consultation closed on 9 May 2014.
OALC responded on behalf of our parishes to the consultation. This document from DCLG, August 2014, summarises the comments received and sets out the Government’s response.
The consultation questions were and the Government response is set out in italics after each question:
- 1. The government proposes that the code will be mandatory
for parish councils with an annual turnover not exceeding £25,000. Do
you agree?
The Government intends to introduce Regulations to make the
Code mandatory. Parish councils can continue to have an external audit
if they wish to. The Government intends to base the threshold (£25,000)
on a parish council’s annual turnover to ensure consistency with the
external audit exemption threshold.
- 2. The government proposes that parish meetings will be exempt from complying with the code. Do you agree?
The Government does not believe that it is proportionate to
place parish meetings under a duty to comply with this code. Parish
meetings will therefore continue to be required to develop a
publication scheme and ensure key financial and governance information
is available to local electors upon request.
- 3. Should there be a threshold above which individual items
of expenditure must be published? If yes what should this threshold be
(e.g. £50, £100)?
The Government agrees that a threshold above which
individual items of expenditure should be published should be set at
£100 (including VAT where it cannot be recovered)
- 4. What exemptions – if any – would need to be made to
information published to explain negative responses to the internal
controls objectives (e.g. information relating to a current fraud
case)?
The Government agrees that exemptions under the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information Act 2000 should apply to data published in accordance with this code.
- 5. The government proposes to require electronic publication. Do you agree?
- 6. How much additional staff time and cost will be involved for authorities in publishing the required data online?
Of those who supported the government’s proposal, more than
40% of respondents recognised that, for many of the smallest parish
councils, the additional burden placed on clerks tasked with preparing
the required information for publication may be significant.
Nevertheless the Government agrees that this requirement should become
mandatory. We have listened to the concerns some parish councils and
billing authorities have raised regarding their capacity to publish
information electronically. In light of these consultation responses,
the Government intends to work with the sector to develop a package of
support that best meets its needs.
The Governments intention is to lay regulations for making the
transparency code for parish councils and other smaller authorities
mandatory later on this year.
COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL
PART-TIME ASSISTANT CLERK
SCP 16-18 £16,604 - £17,333 pa pro rata
We are seeking a highly organised and reliable individual to assist the Clerk in performing the duties of the Parish Council.
In addition to the general administrative duties of purchasing office supplies, typing and filing, the role will include interesting and varied responsibilities such as monitoring planning applications, ensuring the maintenance of footpaths, allotments, street-lighting, Cookham Cemetery and the Alfred Major Recreation Ground.
There will be extensive liaison with Councillors, Contractors and the public.
Confident IT skills including Word, Excel and Outlook are essential.
The Assistant Clerk will be expected to deputise for the Clerk when required and this may require occasional attendance at evening meetings.
Opportunities will be available for further development.
Hours of work will be Mon-Fri 8.30am - 12.30pm.
For further information and a job description, please telephone 01628 522003
Closing Date for applications 20th August 2014
Please send a CV and covering hand written letter to Anne Osborne, Clerk to Cookham Parish Council, Council Offices, High Road, Cookham Rise, Berks. SL6 9JF.
BALC has two FREE places available at the NALC Making Localism Work Conference in Bristol, Thursday 18th September. This is a saving of £120 +VAT
The offer is open to small councils (less than 6,000 electors) who have never been to a NALC conference before, the only catch is that BALC would like a report from you on what you have learnt by attending.
There are planned workshops on:
- Community Rights
- Finding Funding
- Economic Development
- Neighbourhood Planning
- Local Government Finance
- Employment contracts
- Forward planning
- Partnership devolution
The speakers are from DCLG, NALC and other experts, also Stephen Williams MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Details on the NALC website here
If your council would like one of the free places please email BALC christine.lalley@ccberks.org.uk as soon as possible, closing date for applications 11th September
Enborne Parish Council, West Berkshire a small (570 electors) but lively council want a clerk to take over from November 2014 when the current clerk retires. Candidate must hold Cilca or be willing to undertake it, previous experience preferred. Current hours 5-6 hours per week, (280.8 per annum), salary LC1 according to qualifications and experience.
Further information from the existing clerk Janet Haines enbornepc@newbury.net or call 0776 7723372
The Government Digital Service has updated the guidance on naming and registering government domain names to make it faster, simpler and clearer to read through and decide whether you can apply for a gov.uk domain.
If you are a local authority you may want to use a gov.uk domain to instill confidence in your users, who use your website for advice/information or a service, or when communicating with them. A gov.uk domain makes clear that your organisation is official and can be trusted.
The Central Office of Information (COI) had responsibility for managing the guidance until late 2011 when the Government Digital Service took over; they took the opportunity revise the guidelines separating them into two different strands:
- central government (and its agencies)
- local government (including fire services, Associations of Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards etc)
They are aware that parish and town councils often have part time staff and may not have a web team that has time to read and understand the guidance, along with all its technical conditions. So, they separated the strands and simplified the language. They believe this has made it easier to find what you are looking for and what to do next.
Please take a look at the new guidance here.
DCLG are seeking views on neighbourhood planning proposals which will:
- scrap the 6 week consultation and publicity period before a draft neighbourhood plan is submitted for examination
- local authorities must respond within a statutory time limit of 70 days as whether they will designate an applied for neighbourhood plan area
- scrap requirement that the neighbourhood plan complies with EU environmental rules, replace it with a statement/environmental report, screening opinion or explanation why the plan does not require either of them
- a new statutory requirement to test the extent of the consultation undertaken during the preparation of the NDP, Neighbourhood Development Order or Community Right to build Order
- a requirement that landowners of allocated sites are consulted in a draft neighbourhood plan
The rest of the consultation concerns:
- proposals to expand permitted development rights,
- four proposals to improve the use of planning conditions and enable development to start more quickly on site after planning permission is granted.
- improving engagement with statutory consultees
- proposals to raise the environmental impact assessment screening thresholds for industrial estate and urban development projects
- proposals for making improvements to the nationally significant infrastructure planning regime
The consultation is here on the DCLG website, they are seeking online responses.
New Statements of Recommended Practice for charity accounting have been published (SORP's). All charities that prepare accrual accounts must follow them, they support charities implementing the new UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) that takes effect for financial years beginning on or after 1st January 2015.
The main changes relate to the trustees annual report from 2015, charities with no reserves policy need to report this, a requirement for larger charities to explain their approach to risk management and the names of all charities' trustees must now be disclosed.
More information is available on the Charity Commission website
