Finance

The management of the Parish Council’s finances is guided by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations issued from time to time under the Act.

The Act requires local councils, ie Town and Parish Councils, to prepare accounts annually which may then be subject to external audit. The Act also provides that the Secretary of State may make regulations covering:

– how accounts should be kept,
– the form of accounts and how and when they must be approved and published,
– where and for how long taxpayers can view the accounts and
– how taxpayers can exercise their rights in relation to the accounts.

The rights of taxpayers and other interested parties are described in the Act and more detailed guidance on electors’ rights and the special powers of auditors, ‘Council Accounts – A Guide to Your Rights’, is available from the National Audit Office website.

At Bournheath a copy of the month’s receipts and payments schedule that is presented to each council meeting is appended to that month’s minutes.  Each year’s Annual Statement can be downloaded from this page, see below.

The  Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 introduced a Transparency Code for parish councils with an annual turnover of less than £25,000.  Bournheath Parish Council currently falls into this category meaning it is obliged to publish certain information on-line including a list of all payments made during the year of more than £100 and a list of all the authority’s assets.  These documents are shown below with the most recent document listed first.

The main source of income is via the precept, which is a demand on Bromsgrove District Council as the billing authority to collect a specific amount from each council tax payer in the parish. As at April 2019 the average ‘band D’ council tax payer in the parish will contribute £48.39 for the year.