Notice Of Public Rights And Publication Of Unaudited Annual Governance
& Accountability Return
ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020
Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 26
and 27
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)
The Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/404)
1. Date of announcement_________12th June 2020_____________________(a)
2. Each year the smaller authority’s Annual Governance
and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor
appointed by Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd. The unaudited AGAR has been published with
this notice. As it has yet to be reviewed by the appointed auditor, it is
subject to change as a result of that review.
Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records must be made available for inspection by any person interested. For the year ended 31 March 2020, these documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to:
(b) _____Lee Harper-Smith – Parish Clerk/RFO______________________
_____07956
447 056____clerk@credenhill-pc.org.uk_______________
_____59
Glebe Close, Credenhill, Hereford. HR4 7EX_______________
commencing on (c) __Monday 15 June 2020 _______________________
and ending on (d) ___Friday 24 July 2020 ________________________
3. Local government electors and their
representatives also have:
- The opportunity to question the appointed
auditor about the accounting records; and
- The right to make an objection which
concerns a matter in respect of which the appointed auditor could either make a
public interest report or apply to the court for a declaration that an item of
account is unlawful. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the
auditor and a copy sent to the smaller authority.
The appointed auditor can be
contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose between the
above dates only.
4. The smaller authority’s AGAR is subject to
review by the appointed auditor under the provisions of the Local Audit and
Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the NAO’s
Code of Audit Practice 2015. The
appointed auditor is:
PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team)
15 Westferry Circus
Canary Wharf
London E14 4HD
(sba@pkf-littlejohn.com)
5. This announcement is made by (e) Lee Harper-Smith – Parish Clerk/RFO___
LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTS: A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHTS
Please note that this summary applies to all relevant smaller
authorities, including local councils, internal drainage boards and ‘other’
smaller authorities.
The basic position
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the Act) governs the work of auditors appointed to smaller authorities.
This summary explains the provisions contained in Sections 26 and 27 of the
Act. The Act and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015
also cover the duties, responsibilities and rights of smaller authorities,
other organisations and the public concerning the accounts being audited.
As a
local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in
respect of the accounting records of smaller authorities. As an interested
person you can inspect accounting records and related documents. If you are a
local government elector for the area to which the accounts relate you can also
ask questions about the accounts and object to them. You do not have to pay
directly for exercising your rights. However, any resulting costs incurred by
the smaller authority form part of its running costs. Therefore, indirectly,
local residents pay for the cost of you exercising your rights through their
council tax.
The right to inspect the accounting records
Any interested person can inspect
the accounting records, which includes but is not limited to local electors.
You can inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the
audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and
other documents relating to those records. You can copy all, or part, of these
records or documents. Your inspection must be about the accounts, or relate to
an item in the accounts. You cannot, for example, inspect or copy documents
unrelated to the accounts, or that include personal information (Section 26 (6)
– (10) of the Act explains what is meant by personal information). You cannot
inspect information which is protected by commercial confidentiality. This is
information which would prejudice commercial confidentiality if it was released
to the public and there is not, set against this, a very strong reason in the
public interest why it should nevertheless be disclosed.
When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them, they must publish them (including on a website). There must be a 30 working day period, called the ‘period for the exercise of public rights’, during which you can exercise your statutory right to inspect the accounting records. Smaller authorities must tell the public, including advertising this on their website, that the accounting records and related documents are available to inspect. By arrangement you will then have 30 working days to inspect and make copies of the accounting records. You may have to pay a copying charge. Legislative changes have been made as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus for the 2019/20 reporting year which mean that there is no requirement for a common period for public rights. The period for the exercise of public rights must however commence on or before 1 September 2020. The advertisement must set out the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights, how you can communicate to the smaller authority that you wish to inspect the accounting records and related documents, the name and address of the auditor, and the relevant legislation that governs the inspection of accounts and objections
The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounting records
You should first ask your smaller authority about the accounting records, since they hold all the details. If you
are a local elector, your right to ask questions of the external auditor is
enshrined in law. However, while the auditor will answer your questions where
possible, they are not always obliged to do so. For example, the question might
be better answered by another organisation, require investigation beyond the
auditor’s remit, or involve disproportionate cost (which is borne by the local
taxpayer). Give your smaller authority the opportunity first to explain
anything in the accounting records that you are unsure about. If you are not
satisfied with their explanation, you can question the external auditor about
the accounting records.
The law
limits the time available for you formally to ask questions. This must be done
in the period for the exercise of public rights, so let the external auditor
know your concern as soon as possible. The advertisement or notice that tells
you the accounting records are available to inspect will also give the period
for the exercise of public rights during which you may ask the auditor
questions, which here means formally asking questions under the Act. You can
ask someone to represent you when asking the external auditor questions.
Before
you ask the external auditor any questions, inspect the accounting records
fully, so you know what they contain. Please remember that you cannot formally
ask questions, under the Act, after the end of the period for the exercise of
public rights. You may ask your smaller authority other questions about their
accounts for any year, at any time. But these are not questions under the Act.
You can
ask the external auditor questions about an item in the accounting records for
the financial year being audited. However, your right to ask the external
auditor questions is limited. The external auditor can only answer ‘what’
questions, not ‘why’ questions. The external auditor cannot answer questions
about policies, finances, procedures or anything else unless it is directly
relevant to an item in the accounting records. Remember that your questions
must always be about facts, not opinions. To avoid misunderstanding, we
recommend that you always put your questions in writing.
The right to make objections at audit
You have inspected the accounting records and asked
your questions of the smaller authority. Now you may wish to object to the
accounts on the basis that an item in them is in your view unlawful or there
are matters of wider concern arising from the smaller authority’s finances. A
local government elector can ask the external auditor to apply to the High
Court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, or to issue a
report on matters which are in the public interest. You must tell the external
auditor which specific item in the accounts you object to and why you think the
item is unlawful, or why you think that a public interest report should be made
about it. You must provide the external auditor with the evidence you have to
support your objection. Disagreeing with income or spending does not make it
unlawful. To object to the accounts you must write to the external auditor
stating you want to make an objection, including the information and evidence
below and you must send a copy to the smaller authority. The notice must
include:
- confirmation that
you are an elector in the smaller authority’s area;
- why you are
objecting to the accounts and the facts on which you rely;
- details of any
item in the accounts that you think is unlawful; and
- details of any
matter about which you think the external auditor should make a public interest
report.
Other than it must be in writing, there is no set
format for objecting. You can only ask the external auditor to act within the powers
available under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
A final word
You may not use this ‘right to
object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your smaller authority. You should take such complaints to your local
Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or to your solicitor. Smaller
authorities, and so local taxpayers, meet the costs of dealing with questions
and objections. In deciding whether to
take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take
into account is the cost that will be involved, they will only continue with
the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. They may also decide
not to consider an objection if they think that it is frivolous or vexatious,
or if it repeats an objection already considered. If you appeal to the courts
against an auditor’s decision not to apply to the courts for a declaration that
an item of account is unlawful, you will have to pay for the action yourself.
You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your smaller authority. You should take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or to your solicitor. Smaller authorities, and so local taxpayers, meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. In deciding whether to take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved, they will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. They may also decide not to consider an objection if they think that it is frivolous or vexatious, or if it repeats an objection already considered. If you appeal to the courts against an auditor’s decision not to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, you will have to pay for the action yourself.
For more detailed guidance on public rights and the special powers of auditors, copies of the publication Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights are available from the NAO website.
If you wish to contact your authority’s
appointed external auditor please write to the address in paragraph 4 of the Notice of Public Rights and Publication of
Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return.
