Inspecting Local Authority Accounts

UPDATE- egg on face for this, the notice correctly confirms a different stage in the audit cycle, i.e. post audit report inspection rather than pre audit inspection. The Town Council have clarified. The inspection window was during August 2008.

My apologies for the confusion. I'll leave the post in-situ as it is still worthwhile being aware of the right to inspect.
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There is a little known entitlement for any elector to inspect their local authority accounts, as posted by the PJC Journal last Summer.

Our local Town Council put up the statutory notices earlier in January on their notice board and they were removed at some point last week. Looking at the actual announcement though, it isn't terribly helpful, even allowing for the crayon and the sellotape on the plastic window of the noticeboard. Take a look...

The question is- when are they available for inspection? Monday to Friday, of course, between 9am and Noon. But what dates? It doesn't actually say.

The law does though.

SI 2003/533

Notice of public rights

16. - (1) Not later than 14 days before the commencement of the period during which the accounts and other documents are made available in pursuance of regulation 14, a relevant body to which regulation 11(2) applies, or in the case of a parish meeting, the chairman of the meeting, shall give notice by advertisement of the matters set out in paragraph (2).

(2) The matters referred to in paragraph (1) are -

(a) the period during which the accounts and other documents referred to in paragraph (1) will be available for inspection in accordance with regulation 14;

(b) the place at which, and the hours during which, they will be so available;

(c) the name and address of the auditor;

(d) the provisions contained in section 15 and section 16 of the 1998 Act; and

(e) the date appointed under regulation 13.

(My emphasis)

This document doesn't do that. Indeed it only implies that the public can only inspect the annual return, a somewhat short summary document.

So, this document was dated January 7th, so the books would have opened no less than 14 days later, on the 21st of January.

How long are the books open for inspection? Four weeks.

Public inspection of accounts
14. - (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the relevant body or, as the case may be, the chairman, notified under regulation 13, shall make the accounts and other documents mentioned in section 15 of the 1998 Act available for public inspection for 20 working days before the date appointed by the auditor under that regulation.

That should mean in this case that the books remain open until February 18th.

Now I'm not a lawyer, but I've read through the Act and the two subsequent Statutory Instruments. I don't see that a Parish Council is exempt from full compliance with the inspection regime. I will be querying the dates with the Council office tomorrow to hear what they say.

A more interesting question, however, is why Morley Town Council took nine months to do their internal audit, most Local Authorities have their inspection window 3-4 months after book closure.

A quote from the very helpful ONB website:

Orchard News Bureau Ltd specialises in obtaining information and financial data from reluctant public bodies.

Some persist in hiding or censoring information which voters, residents and taxpayers have a legal right to see.

But this company has a proven track record of challenging a sub-culture of excessive and unjustified secrecy within Town Halls and Constabulary authorities.

(...)
It is an unfortunate fact of life (the world over) that politicians and civil servants are freer to engage in corruption wherever and whenever editors and journalists abdicate their watchdog roles.