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Under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ss39,41,52,51 and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regs 1992 No. 613 art 4. (1), the Parish Council has the power to raise income to meet its expenses by means of an annual charge, the 'precept', from those resident within its parish.
The precept is set each year by the Parish Council, as part of its annual budgeting process and is collected on the Parish Council's behalf by Babergh District Council, the authority responsible for collecting Council Tax within its area.
A Finance Committee is appointed every year by the Parish Council. The following Councillors are members of this Committee:
Cllr Mal Bridgeman
Cllr Lesley Cherry
Cllr Alastair McCraw
Cllr Eric Osben (Chair)
The Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) attends the meeting to inform the Parish Council on financial matters but is not a member of the Committee.
The Audit Commission Act 1998 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations, which are issued from time to time under this Act, set out how local councils should behave when accounting for the public funds they manage and what rights local taxpayers have in relation to these accounts. The Parish Council submiits its accounts to two seperate auditors per annum and the findings are recorded on the Annual Return Form. The financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March.
The Internal Audit, carried out by a company totally independent from the Parish Council, looks at the internal workings of the council e.g. the minutes, insurance policies, along with the Financial Management of Risk and the accounts. The council is also required to carry out annually, a review of the effectivness of their system of internal control.
The Annual Return accompanied by a Summary of Receipts and Payments, a Bank Reconciliation and the Reason for Varience are then sent to the External Auditor (for our council BDO LLP) who will carry out an audit and subsequently return a report. All of these papers can be found on the page on the left of this page.
Parish Council Funding
The Parish Council endeavours to ensure we remain a strong, healthy, vibrant community in which the needs and aspirations of everyone are met. The Council has money available to support groups in our community who share our committment.
Contributions Policy