Is a parish council required to publish its budget?

Question

Thank you.

Sam

Answer 1

Why on earth would they NOT publish their budget? The mere fact that they are required to account for their fiscal decisions ( individually and collectively ) and are required to be open and transparent in their actions it is a no brainer, regardless of statutory requirements or not being in place.

Comments

Thanks Mentorman. As with many other matters, my parish council has no interest in publishing any background papers including their budget.

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All is not lost.  Ask for a copy of your publication scheme.  If you get blank looks then you may wish to remind the council that under Freedom of Information Legislation it is required to adopt a Publication Scheme.  I'm getting a bit rusty on the detail but I think you will find that the council's budget is one of the documents listed and therefore a copy of it can be demanded as an FOI request.  That said, it would be far less time consuming for all concerned if the council simply published it of its own volition.