WHAT EXEMPT
AUTHORITIES NEED TO DO TO ADVERTISE THE PERIOD DURING WHICH ELECTORS AND
INTERESTED PERSONS MAY EXERCISE RIGHTS RELATING TO THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 require that:
1.
The statement of accounts prepared by the authority (i.e. the Annual Governance & Accountability Return
(AGAR) Part 2), 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, during a period of 30
working days set by the smaller authority and including the first 10 working
days of July.
2.
The period referred to in paragraph (1) starts with the day on which the
period for the exercise of public rights is treated as having been commenced
i.e. the day following the day on which all of the obligations in paragraph (3)
below have been fulfilled.
3. The responsible financial officer for an exempt authority must, on behalf of that authority, publish (which must include publication on the authority’s website):
(a) the Accounting Statements (i.e. Section 2 of the AGAR Part 2), accompanied by:
(i) a declaration, signed by that officer to the effect that the statement of accounts will not be audited on account of that authority’s self-certified status as exempt, unless either a request for an opportunity to question the auditor about the authority’s accounting records under section 26(2) or an objection under section 27(1) of the Act, results in the involvement of the local auditor;
(ii) the Annual Governance Statement (i.e. Section 1 of the AGAR Part 2); and
(iii) the Certificate of Exemption (i.e. Page 3 of the AGAR Part 2); and
(b) a statement that sets out—
(i) the period for the exercise of public rights;
(ii) details of the manner in which notice should be given of an intention to inspect the accounting records and other documents;
(iii) the name and address of the local auditor;
(iv) the provisions
contained in section 25 (inspection of statements of accounts etc), section 26
(inspection of documents etc) and section 27 (right to make objections at
audit) of the Act, as they have effect in relation to the authority in question;
HOW DO
YOU DO IT?
You
will meet statutory requirements if you fully and accurately complete the
notice of public rights pro forma in this document; and publish (including publication on the smaller
authority’s website) the following documents, the day before the public
rights period commences:
a.
the
approved Sections 1 and 2 of Part 2 of the AGAR; and
b.
the
completed Notice of Public Rights and Publication of Annual Governance &
Accountability Return (Exempt Authority). Please note that we have pre-completed
it with the following suggested
dates: Monday 14 June – Friday 23 July 2021. (The latest possible dates that
comply with the statutory requirements are Thursday 1 July – Wednesday 11
August 2021); and
c.
the notes which accompany the Notice (Local authority
accounts: a summary of your rights).
BRADWALL PARISH COUNCIL
NOTICE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS AND PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY
RETURN (EXEMPT AUTHORITY)
ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 25,
26 and 27
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)
NOTICE |
NOTES |
1. Date of announcement Friday 4th June 2021 (a) 2. Each year the smaller authority prepares an Annual
Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR).
The AGAR has been published with this notice. It will not be reviewed
by the appointed auditor, since the smaller authority has certified itself as
exempt from the appointed auditor’s review. Any person interested has the right to inspect
and make copies of the AGAR, the accounting records for the financial year to
which it 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 2021, these
documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to: (b) Fiona Stops – Clerk to Bradwall Parish Council 01270 766378 clerk@bradwall-in-cheshire.co.uk commencing on (c) Monday 21 June 2021 and ending on (d) Friday 30 July 2021 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 only subject
to review by the appointed auditor if questions or objections raised under
the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 lead to the involvement of the
auditor. The appointed auditor is: PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team) 15 Westferry Circus Canary Wharf London E14 4HD 5. This announcement is made by
(e) F. Stops – Clerk/RFO |
(a)
Insert date of placing of the notice which must be not less than 1 day before
the date in (c) below (b) Insert name, position and address/telephone number/ email address,
as appropriate, of the Clerk or other person to which any person may apply to
inspect the accounts (c) Insert date, which must be at least 1 day after the date of announcement
in (a) above and at least 30 working days before the date appointed in (d)
below (d) The inspection period between (c) and (d) must be 30 working days
inclusive and must include the first 10 working days of July. (e) Insert name and position of person placing the notice – this
person must be the responsible financial officer for the smaller authority |
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. The 30 working day period must include a common
period of inspection during which all smaller authorities’ accounting records
are available to inspect. This will be 1-14 July 2021 for 2020/21 accounts. 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.
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. |