Notice-Electors-Rights_31-Mar-2014
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Attachment 3.2
Local council name: Hea ve Show Paral Zowucw
Notice of appointment of date for the exercise of electors’ rights
Accounts for the year ended 31* March 2014
Audit Commission Act 1998, Sections 15 and 16, and
The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/817)
1. Date of announcement: 09 June 2014 (a) (a) Insert date of placing of
the notice which must
be not less than 14
days before the date in
(d) below
2. Each year the Council's/Meetiagis-4s} Annual Return is audited by an auditor | (©) Delete as appropriate
appointed by the Audit Commission. Any person interested has the right to
inspect and make copies of the accounts to be audited and all books, deeds,
contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to them. For the year ended
31 March 2014 these documents will be available on reasonable notice on
application to:
. {c) Insert name, position
() KAAS PoTta ws
A KAB ~ Crete and contact details of
tbe en “Tite OF LODGE ae oe hon any
Weer Aner» LOAL person may apply to
OAL ESA rs) Aikt. <2 a inspect the accounts
ji {d) ee
Insert date, which
commencing on (a) 23 June 2014 eet davemust
after
the date of
announcement in (a)
above.
18 July 2014 The inspection
(e) Hine period
i on (e)
and ending
must be 20 working
days.
3. Local Government Electors and their representatives also have:
e the opportunity to question the auditor about the accounts; and
e the right to make objections to the accounts or any item in them. Written
notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent
to the Council/Meeting (f).
{f) Delete as appropriate
The auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this (g) The date appointed by
purpose on 21 July 2014 (g) and after that date will be available at the he auctor. This must
address given in paragraph 4 below until the audit has been completed. day after
the end
of the
inspection period (e).
4. The audit is being conducted under the provisions of the Audit Commission
Act 1998, the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011 and the Audit
Commission's Code of Audit Practice. Your audit is being carried out by:
Mazars LLP, 8 New Fields, 2 Stinsford Road, Nuffield, POOLE, Dorset,
BH17 ONF
(h) Insert name and
5. This announcement is made by (h) Mus PATA
ta KAR at —-CratiL” positon of parson
placing the notice
Attachment 3.3
Councils’ Accounts: A Summary of Electors’ Rights
The basic position
By law any interested person has the right to inspect a council's/meeting’s accounts. If you are entitled and
registered to vote in local council elections then you (or your representative) also have the right to ask the
appointed auditor questions about the council's accounts or object to an item of account contained within them.
The right to inspect the accounts
When your council has finalised its accounts for the previous financial year it must advertise that they are
available for people to inspect. Having given the council reasonable notice of your intentions, you then have 20
working days to look through the accounting statements in the Annual Return and any supporting documents. By
arrangement, you will be able to inspect and make copies of the accounts and the relevant documents. You may
have to pay a copying charge.
The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounts
You can only ask the appointed auditor questions about the accounts. The auditor does not have to answer
questions about the council’s policies, finances, procedures or anything else not related to the accounts. Your
questions must be about the accounts for the financial year just ended. The auditor does not have to say
whether they think something the council has done, or an item in its accounts, is lawful or reasonable.
The right to object to the accounts
if you think that the council has spent money that it should not have, or that someone has caused a loss to the
council deliberately or by behaving irresponsibly, you can request the auditor to apply to the courts for a
declaration that an item of account is contrary to law. You do this by sending a formal ‘notice of objection’ to the
auditor at the address below. You must also send a copy to the council. The notice must be in writing. In it,
you must tell the auditor why you are objecting and what you want the auditor to do about it. The auditor must
reach a decision on your objection. If you are not happy with that decision, you can appeal to the courts.
You may also object if you think that there is something in the accounts that the auditor should discuss with the
council or tell the public about in a ‘public interest report’. You must follow the same procedure as outlined in the
previous paragraph. The auditor must then decide whether to take any action. The auditor does not have to, but
usually will, give reasons for his/her decision and you cannot appeal to the courts. More information is available
on the Audit Commission website (see contact details below).
You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your council. You should
take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or your solicitor. You may also be
able to approach the Standards Committee of your toca! principal authority if you believe that a member of the
council has broken the Code of Conduct for Members.
What else you can do
Instead of objecting, you can give the auditor information that is relevant to his/her responsibilities. For example,
you can simply tell the auditor if you think that something is wrong with the accounts or about waste and
inefficiency in the way the council runs its services. You do not have to follow any set time limits or procedures.
The auditor does not have to give you a detailed report of any subsequent investigation, but will usually tell you
the outcome.
A final word
Councils, and so local taxpayers, must 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. The auditor will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. If you
appeal to the courts, you might have to pay for the action yourself.
Who should you contact?
if you wish to contact your Council’s appointed For more detailed guidance on electors’ rights and the special | external auditor please write to: powers of auditors, copies of the publication Council Accounts — a guide to your rights are available by calling Stephen Christopher 0303 444 8330 or emailing public-enquirtes@audit- Partner, Mazars LLP commission.gsi.gov.uk or from the Audit Commission 8 New Fields, 2 Stinsford Road website. Nuffield, POOLE, BH17 NH
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