The clerk has forgotten to include an invoice to be paid on the agenda for the next meeting

Question

If it is not on the agenda can the chairman still ask for it to be paid or should it wait until the next meeting when is  it is on the agenda

Answer 1

Depends what your policy states the ammount that can be paid without ratification of the full council. But good practice would say that as uts not on the agenda then no decision can be made in regards to paying it.

I know our council the clerk can authorise payments upto £3000 without ratification of the council so check what yours states as it may authorise the clerk to pay it without ratification

Comments

Clerk's authority of £3,000 is very high. Did your Clerk suggest that figure?

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I believe so it was done under the line(secret) with the staffing committee who have delegated powers over everything staffing which is causing me issues as basically everything is staffing or can be connected with staffing. I have asked for the S101 and the tems of reference as i believe the terms of reference simply states to deal with all matters related to staffing.

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Financial regulations are not a staffing matter and must be considered by the full Council.

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So under the current regime you have a clerk with carte blanche to spend up to £3k (is that per month, per transaction or what?) and nobody can question it because there is a closed shop staffing committee which excludes any "outside" scrutiny.

You've got BIG issues in that council - you'd think such matters would strike a cord with IA but apparently not:

"...We did not identify any issues with either the level or type of expenditure incurred..." (in relation to clerk and head groundsman corporate cards.)

https://www.costessey.org.uk/uploads/costessey-tc-internal-audit-(final-update)-report-2021-22-6th-may-2022.pdf?v=1652714111

Just goes to show how ineffective an IA really can be when they are being fed the info they require by the person that is under greatest scrutiny from the audit....

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Per transaction as far as im aware and we have had the same IA for as long as im aware. We never see them we cant speak to them or raise issue the office is basically closed when tbey are in. I honestly dont know why other councillors are not asking questions, and when someone eg I do, we are seen as causing problems 4 councillors resigned few years back do to the reception they got for asking qiestions. Loads of new policies brought in reduction of members on commitees, no one can replace a member on a committee if they are not attending etc etc

Answer 2

What is the payment for as that has a direct relevance to the answer.

Comments

It an invoice for a job a builder has just completed it is for £9000.00 it has to be authorised by the council before two other councillors can sign it of for the clerk to pay the two councillors have to then check that the invoice is ok

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If the invoice matches the quote and the work is certified as complying with the work spec and the project (including quote which matches invoice) was approved by resolution of the council when it was proposed - why would it need approval again prior to payment. That is an unnecessary duplication of effort and a delay in payment which will significantly impact the “will” of small businesses to carry out work for councils.
There will be (should be) a minute reference which aligns with the original council resolution to approve the work - annotate that to the invoice and get it paid.

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The builder has  asked for payment put has not completed the snagging
He wants us to keep some of the money back until he has completed but the clerk forgot to add this to the agenda I am not sure if we should now discuss it due to it not being on the agenda

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Your contract with the builder should have a retention clause which allows for retention of monies anyway. If the lack of wording ,makes it impossible to pay the builder then simple solution would be for the chair to call a EO with one item on the agenda ( making sure that it can be quorate)

Answer 3

Depends I suppose what’s on the agenda. For us it just states to agree payments for xxx month. Therefore whilst a list is sent out with the agenda it can get added to if invoices come in before the meeting. Personally I would be happy to agree any additional invoice and just annotate it as such in minutes if needed v

Comments

The agenda reads To approve salaries & HMRC to be paid on24 April 2023
No where do it say to pay the builder subject to snagging being completed

Answer 4

My councils meet bi-monthly, so if an item is not approved at a meeting there is a 9-week delay. If the item is routine, or has been considered by the Council previously, I ask the Council to approve it even though it is not on the agenda. Regular examples are grass-cutting or minor works, such as the issue you currently face. Where no previous decision of the Council exists, I would not use this procedure.