Annual Returns

Local Councils in England with an annual turnover of £1 million or less must complete an annual return which summarizes its financial activities at the end of the financial year.

The financial year for all local authorities runs from 1 April to 31 March.

In accordance with The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 the accounting records for the financial year ending 31 March 2018, (which includes all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records) will 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. The period set by the Responsible Financial Officer for Thurston for inspection for this year covers the period 4 June to 13 July 2018 inclusive.

To view further details on the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights including information on local authority accounts, you can refer to the detailed guide produced by the National Audit Office 'Local Authority Accounts: A Guide To Your Rights' please click here to view the guide.

The Responsible Financial Officer has completed the Parish Council's accounts for submission for internal and external audit. 

There are major changes to the requirements for smaller authorities for the 2017/18 reporting season with regards to external audit. The main change to the requirements of the regime relates to those smaller authorities who are eligible to exempt themselves from having a limited assurance review of their accounts as conducted by an (appointed) external auditor. Although there is no change at all to the requirement for all smaller authorities to complete and approve an Annual Return, now known as the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR), and to provide for public rights; exempt authorities must meet a number of specified criteria and then only need submit a copy of their exemption certificate to the appointed external auditor.

At its meeting of 15 May 2018 Fornham All Saints Parish Council agreed that it should consider itself as an exempt authority and signed the Certificate of Exemption indicating that it wished to certify itself from a limited assurance review under section 9 of the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015. The Parish Council has published a number of documents on this public website as required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015 and the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities.

These include:

• Certificate of Exemption, page 3 - click here

• Annual Internal Audit Report 2017/18, page 4 - click here

• Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2017/18, page 5 - click here

• Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2017/18, page 6 - click here

• Analysis of variances • Bank reconciliation • Notice of the period for the exercise of public rights and other information required by Regulation 15 (2), Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

 

Any person wishing to see copies of all the books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to the Annual Return and the Accounting Statements for the preceeding year has the right so to do. Please contact the Clerk for a mutually agreeable appointment to view the relevant documents.