Procedure to request to look at PC accounts

Question

Is there a formal procedure to follow when requesting to look at PC accounts?

I'm a Councillor, not a signatory, small Council, 5K precept but requested to look at cheque book, invoices and bank statements etc for this financial yr  and last.
The Chairman blew a fuse as he hadn't been informed of the request and the Clerk apologised.

Answer 1

Are you on the council? If so then you have every right to inspect the accounts. The Chair doesn't have the right to decide if you can.

If you aren't, you would need to put in an FOI request or wait until the next inspection period.

Comments

I'm on Council

Answer 2

Are you asking on behalf of a resident, or from a councillors perspective? The chairman does not have to be informed if another member of the council asks to see the accounts and it is simply a case of making a request to the clerk of responsible financial officer.

Comments

Councillor. I don't understand why our experienced Clerk apologised to the Chairman. One would have thought he'd have just given a clear explanation, which he didn't

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Just because the Clerk has done the job for a long time, it doesn't mean that they will automatically give appropriate advice.

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Has anyone considered that perhaps the chair is a bully and the Clerk is unwilling or unable to stand up to the chair?  Personally I'd expect information on payments, including access to invoices to be freely available to all members if requested and certainly everyone should be clear on what is being authorised for payment each month.  Is that not happening?  Last years would have been archived by now I suspect but even so, shouldn't be an issue to find out comparisons for example.