can a parish council have a business account and clerks wages are they confidential or should they be available to view

Question

Hi,

Please can anyone kindly advise?

I have recently viewed the agenda of my local parish council.

I have noted that our council now have a business account I have looked back at previous minutes and agendas but this has not been shown before is this a new thing.

Also, the clerk shows their wages "Amount" but now its confidential have things changed in legislation.

Just one other I have noted that the Chartered Accountants have put a bill in for stationery and printer cartridges to the sum of £92.34 is this the norm?

Thank you for your help and advise , please stay safe,

Best Regards

David

Answer 1

The clerk's wage is personal data and they have the option, but are not obliged, to withhold it from the public. The council can't withhold disclosure of the total council salary expenditure, so if the clerk is the sole employee, their salary should be revealed from that. I think you need to be specific about a business account. Is it an account with a specific supplier, or is it a corporate bank account? The clerk should not have been using their personal bank account for council financial transactions.

Comments

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
There is a community bank account plus the new business account that is not specific to a supplier to my knowledge.
With Thanks
David

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A business account could often be for private sector companies, that generate their own turnover from sales of products or services. NAT Westoffer what they call a community account for non profit organisations which would seem more appropriate. Question is, where was the precept paid into previously?

Answer 2

Sorry, I am confused...?  what type of bank account should a parish council have other than a business account?  Where would the precept be paid into otherwise?  Its a financial necessity for the council to have its own bank account and certainly more appropriate than a private individual account where the requirement for more than one person to approve payments is not required...

As for the invoice for the printer ink and stationery, perhaps that is for payroll and requires specialist paper and ink to produce payslips?  You would need to ask the Clerk for an explanation...

Comments

Dear Sir,
Thanks for your reply.
They have a community bank account and a new business account.
With Thanks
David

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Its Madam actually!  The number of bank accounts available on the High Street that provide the required levels of authority are dwindling and Graemer refers to Community or Charity accounts which often have a limit on the amount of money you can bank in them.  As long as regular bank reconciliations and accounts are presented to council, then using a business account is fine.

Answer 3

I think you need to see what items of income and expenditure are going into the business account. Why does the PC need two accounts? Raise this with the external auditor.

Comments

We have a number of accounts to hold the reserves that we require to meet our short term liabilities.  It would be foolish to keep all your money in one bank account if it exceeds the FSCS limit of £85k.