22 March 2023
Leader of Ashington Town Council, Cllr John Tully expressed congratulations and pride on the achievements of Cllr Michelle Brannigan who has been awarded a scholarship as part of Santander Universities Scholarship Programme.
The programme is aimed at breaking down barriers for current students who are most likely to face challenges when attending higher education. The initiative provides funding to support students through to graduation, £10,000 per year, alongside training opportunities to develop their potential. There are 100 scholarships available to help students build brighter futures, and Cllr Michelle Brannigan was successful out of 3,500 applicants.
Ashington Town Council as a public body is responsible for its own finances. It is required to make arrangements for the proper administration of its financial affairs and to ensure that one of its officers has this responsibility. The officer whose job it is to oversee the finances of the Council is referred to as the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO). At Ashington, the Clerk is the RFO.
The Council must work within a legal framework that is specified within the Accounts and Audit Regulations and it must ensure that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards.
Good governance, accountability and transparency are essential and a cornerstone to improving public services. The Council must ensure that public money is safeguarded, properly accounted for, and used economically, efficiently, and effectively.
We are required to complete an Annual Governance and Accountability Return each year. This is legislated in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Electors are entitled to inspect the Council’s accounts, during a set period during the year. For information pertaining to your rights, click on the link Local Authority Accounts ‘A summary of your rights’.
PKF Littlejohn LLP are the Council’s appointed External Auditors; the Audit Commission continually monitor the performance of the external auditors, assessing the quality of their work and ensuring they carry it out in compliance with their statutory obligations.
Ashington Town Council is also required to appoint an Internal Auditor who will monitor and review the arrangements in place to ensure the proper conduct and effectiveness of our financial affairs.
The Council must have an adequate system of internal control and risk management. This review is an integral part of continually improving governance and accountability. The Council is required to publicly report the outcome of the review of its accounts and to make its accounting statements and other documents available for public inspection.The results of the External Audit are available to view on the website and on request, this is in the form of an Annual Return, different to the tax return that is completed by most organisations. The Annual Return is completed in June and usually returned in September, five months after the end of the financial year. During this period, members of the public are invited to look at the council’s accounts, however, residents may at any time ask to see the council’s accounts and questions relating to spending can always be put to the Clerk/RFO.
ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN 2021/22 |
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Issues Arising (if any) |
Action Plan (if required) |
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22 March 2023
Leader of Ashington Town Council, Cllr John Tully expressed congratulations and pride on the achievements of Cllr Michelle Brannigan who has been awarded a scholarship as part of Santander Universities Scholarship Programme.
The programme is aimed at breaking down barriers for current students who are most likely to face challenges when attending higher education. The initiative provides funding to support students through to graduation, £10,000 per year, alongside training opportunities to develop their potential. There are 100 scholarships available to help students build brighter futures, and Cllr Michelle Brannigan was successful out of 3,500 applicants.
