At a recently meeting I raised concern that councilors were not shown invoices in relation to the list of cheques that were to approved for payment. I was very concerned because there was no way of telling exactly what the amounts relate to.
I was put down by several councillors who said that councillors can't see every invoice and that is what the clerk/responsible financial officer does. Aswell as the members who sign the checks apparently look at the invoices. The list of cheques simply states the amount, who it is payable to, vaguely what it relates to and the Gov Act that gives authority to do this. Some items are simple as they are a set agreed amounts(e.g. dog bin emptying) but other items, where the work had been agreed but the amounts hadn't been specifically agreed by the council.
It seems appalling practice to me for councillors to agree to pay cheques but not look at the specifics they relate to. Or am I wrong here?
I can't see how the clerk/RFO can be a safe guard against the council paying for work that hasn't been done or paying invoices that might need to be queried for a whole host of other reasons?
I know that I have the right to see invoices if I ask and their is a fairly legitimate reason why my request to see the invoices hadn't been dealt with prior to the meeting.
