All assets checked regularly

Town Clerk to formally monitor and review staff and work levels. Any concerns regarding this to then be brought to Personnel Committee / Council

Supported and underwritten by Wirehouse Employer Services

Loss of income through error or fraud

Fidelity Guarantee Insurance in place

Town Clerk continually review controls and current procedures

‘Ultra Vires’

Matters relating to staff discussed in confidential session and discussed by Personnel Committee

Town Clerk to keep up to date with employment law and seek HR advice where appropriate

Other policies are also in place

Payments are also reported to each Council meeting

The Clerk reacts to any changes in legislation or other areas in order to ensure the regulations are fully compliant and also provide a strong framework compatible with Council’s practices

Any amendments required are reported to Finance and Governance Committee for recommendation to Council for adoption

Monthly review of income and expenditure

Budgets are regularly reviewed by each Committee and also at each Council meeting

Earmarked Reserves are created for set purposes

General reserves equivalent to at least six months spend are kept

The RBS Omega accounts system is used which is an accepted accounts package

Hard copies of the Councils reports are held on file together with bank reconciliation reports, invoices/receipts/payments and cheques issued as well as electronic copies on the Councils server

The RBS Omega system incorporates a VAT schedule which is an accepted package which allows differentiation between tax rates etc. which is itemised in a full report relating back to the original item within the accounts

Procedures will be provided to HMRC every three/four years for comments and approval

Hard copies linked to pay roll reports are held on file together with payslips, BACS payments and cheques issued to the pension fund and Inland Revenue

Electronic backups copies are kept on the server

Payments can only be issued for the nominated employees, which must be authorised in advance of the payment

Annual pension and year end payroll returns are issued in a timely manner to the appropriate bodies that inspect the information and highlight any discrepancies

CCLA deposit account is used to reduce the risk of loss of funds in line with treasury management procedures

Any discrepancies are immediately reported to the bank for investigation

All Committee Chairs and the Mayor are named signatories on the Councils bank account as well as Officers who process payments and financial transactions

Each payment must be authorised by at least two Councillors who are named signatories on the account. At present, all Committee Chairs and the Mayor are named signatories

A payment list is compiled and circulated to the Councillor signatories on a two weekly basis. Once approved by two signatories, payments are processed using online banking by those Officers who are also named signatories

The RFO is to keep a record that the payments have been authorised. These records are kept both in hard copy format and electronically

All payments are reported with a full reconciliation report for sign-off

The Officer must abide by these rates and any requests for preferential rates must be made by the hirer to Council for their approval

All bookings must be paid for in advance to avoid bad debts other block bookers are invoiced or given the option of paying the sites on a weekly basis

When returned to the office, cash is emptied and counted manually within one working day by at least two members of staff and a record be kept of the amounts received

When the monies have been balanced, it is input onto the RBS Omega system and all entry references are printed out and retained on file

The hire charges are banked when received

The cash element is usually below £500

A unique pay in reference is applied to each batch of banking which is loaded onto the RBS Omega system which is then checked against the bank reconciliation

This is a strict routine that ensures that any booked hire cannot proceed without receiving the payments and guarantees that all monies are accounted for

The Clerk checks records periodically

Officers advise where income and expenditure is to be coded when invoices are received for payment

Any amendments are reported to Council for approval

Payments must be authorised by at least two Councillors before payments are made

All invoices and approvals to pay are stored are hard copies and electronically

Cash and cheques stored securely and banked within 5 working days of receipt

The Clerk also completes a mid-year review in October for the current year to calculate possible year end surpluses which may be incorporated within the future budget. The actual precept level is then calculated from the balance sheet assuming that the remainder of the current year’s budget will be utilised in order to estimate the year end bank balance

The new budgeted income, expenditure and reserves are then set against this balance in order to calculate a budget shortfall on which the future precept is based

The new budget is discussed and fine-tuned throughout the October, November and December Council and Committee meetings after the up to date number of band D properties has been confirmed by CEC. This supports discuss and amendments to any highlighted budget levels in order to best achieve an acceptable precept level

Comprehensive minutes are recorded at each stage to substantiate the budget development

The final budget is approved no later than the beginning of January and CEC is immediately advised of the precept request

All orders are checked against the accounts system to verify expenditure within the account code to date and the remaining budget

Any over expenditure is highlighted and brought to the attention of the Clerk

This incorporates a print out of the income and expenditure against each annual budget and the cashbook extract

Any that do not meet the budget levels are highlighted to Members if needed along with committed expenditure

In addition, weekly, annual checks of play equipment

Reviewed annually

Reviewed annually

Reviewed annually

Sickness is monitored by the Clerk

Cover in place for excess costs

All electronic documents backed up daily offsite by the Councils IT provider

Purchased

This is updated throughout the year from new assets which are in addition, a schedule of road furniture/bins/dog bins/bus shelters play area equipment etc., will be kept on a secondary list

The asset list is circulated to staff on an annual basis to ensure that all items are correct

An annual assessment is carried out by the Clerk relating to the value of items listed on the asset register

The Internal Auditor carries out at least on internal audit each financial year

The report is presented to Council for acceptance

Audit costs and levels of requirement are determined by government legislation based upon the annual income or expenditure levels

The Clerk completes the year end accounts to audit trial level and prepares any additional reports required by the external auditor

The Clerk presents the completed Annual Return, Financial Statement and other documentation required to Council in line with the timescales provided by the external auditor

Once these have been formally adopted and signed by Council, they are lodged with external auditors

Any queries raised by the auditors are dealt with by the Clerk in the first instance

Final sign-off by the external auditor is presented to Council

Procedures in place (as previously detailed) have been established incorporating separation of duties, cross referenced receipts of income

These provisions have ensured that no individual is able to gain access to withdraw funds without due process

Annual insurance policies are approved by Council