CONTROL OF EARMARKED RESERVES

Question

I am sorry to go over old ground again, but I have a problem with the management of Earmarked Reserves which I hope I can now explain better.  Our Finance Committee is quite specific in that as far as they are concerned EMR does not come under Revenue Expenditure and therefore the limits shown under Budgetary Control in our Fin Regs do not apply to EMR (they only apply Revenue Expenditure).  So, first question is,...  are there any limits at all on spending EMR funds?   Now some PCs have specific policies and some stipulate that the Full Council alone has control over spending (all reserves?)  but there does not seem to be any legislation or anything in Fin Regs.     So, the next question is does S101 allow delegation of control of specific EMRs to a committee or individual?  This what has happened in our case with different delegated spending limits applied to each pot with the highest limits being allocated not unsurprising to the inner sanctum's preferred projects.

I believe a policy must be created and some sort of continuity introduced as I feel that all control is now at the whim of a few individuals 

 

Answer 1

It’s a nonsense to suggest (whoever is suggesting it) that no spend limits, delegations or restrictions apply on the basis that the money is EMR.
That just demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding (to put it politely) of what they are doing.
They have created a false scenario which facilitates an inappropriate deviation from basic principles.
Financial controls apply regardless of which allocation the money is allocated from. You may be approaching this the wrong way. Don’t look for a regulation which precludes unrestricted spending, demand that the reference be produced which authorises it - there isn’t one!

Comments

The problem then appears to be that the Fin Regs specifically apply to Revenue expenditure only.  I agree that it doesn't make sense but thats what they say