Parish Council Statement re Internal Audit Report 2019-20
The Parish Council does not agree with the findings of the Internal Auditor regarding several of the issues they raised and comments they made following the 2019-20 audit.
In particular, the Council disputes the Auditor’s findings on the Annual Internal Audit Report 2019-20 (above) regarding Items D and G.
Item D: The Council’s aim is to meet its statutory obligations and provide services to the community that it is responsible for at the minimum of cost to residents. The Annual Precept (money received by the Parish Council through Council Tax from each household) is £2,300 p.a. and this has not risen in over 5 years. Councillors know precisely what it costs each year to run the Parish Council and Budget accordingly (Budget for 2018-19 above). Consequently, we do not tend to review the Budget at each Meeting but only when any additional expenditure beyond our planned expenditure is being considered. We, and all previous Internal Auditors, believe this is appropriate practice for a Parish Council of our size.
If any expenditure is required in addition to what we have budgeted for the Clerk aims to identify grants or alternative sources of funding. In recent years the Council has been successful in receiving grant funding from a variety of sources, which has paid for 2 defibrillators, 2 grit bins, the resurfacing of much of Old London Road (part of the Battlefield Trail), a new Noticeboard in Kirkby Wharfe, an additional dogwaste bin at Dacres Cross and a professional survey of traffic speeds on the A162 through Towton. We have also received £1,000 towards new flashing speed signs as part of our A162 Road Safety project.
The Parish Council is financially prudent and responsible and totally refutes any suggestion that our budgetary process is inadequate.
Item G: The salary paid to the Clerk is set in a contract, calculated quarterly together with the PAYE element by a professional payroll company, authorised by Councillors quarterly in a Parish Council Meeting and paid by cheque signed by two Councillors. It is an entirely rigorous and transparent procedure. The suggestion that procedures were not properly applied is totally incorrect. The Internal Auditor identified that the Tax Code applied to the Clerk’s Payslip was OT whereas the HMRC Tax Code stated BR was to be applied. This is NOT an error as both Tax Codes result in the same, correct amount of tax being paid.
The Council challenged these points with the Internal Auditor and with Yorkshire Local Councils Associations where she is employed but they would not alter their findings.
The Parish Council October 2020