Are invoices considered meeting/agenda documents?

Question

Hi,

we don't have a finance committee, and as such, there is an item on the full council agenda which is about approving invoices. The agenda contains a summary of the main costs, but not the invoices. Is this correct, or should the invoices always be provided as part of the agenda papers, for transparency and also to allow the councillors to check the invoices and get the chance to raise any questions?

Is this process lawful?

Answer 1

I assume therefore that your clerk is the RFO. It all depends on how the authorisation for the expenditure was passed by the council. How it was broken down for payment etc. It is within a councillors power to request and receive copies of any invoices which are being put before council for authorisation. Councillors are tasked with the overseeing and control of tax payers money and ensuring that fiscal prudence is achieved.

Comments

Yes, the clerk is RFO.
It's exactly for that reason that I have asked for it, yet it seems like hard work. We are asked to approve invoices at the full council meeting. The invoices are sent only to those councillors who can do the online payments for them, and not to others.

So I still do not understand how it depends on how the authorisation was passed? Does it affect as to whether invoices still need to sent to all councillors (we dont have a finance committee)?

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I appreciate that my comments won’t apply so much to very small Parish Councils but  in the age of the Cloud based systems there no reason information like this shouldn’t be instantly available to the public let alone the Councillors
My rule of thumb is if I was a director of a limited company would I be able to see this  information as if you think about it the role of a Councillor is very similar
I’m a Councillor in a very large PC and I think I see about 10% of the information I need to satisfy myself that all is well

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If when the item for say 'refurbishment of a play area' was first brought to council and approved it would be normal to break down how payment was to be made and to whom and for how much and at what stage. Any invoices within this specification could be authorised for payment by either the RFO or a committee who may or may not also be granted the ability to pay such invoices without reference to the council. Regardless of such authorisation ANY councillor is entitled to request sight of ANY documentation such as invoices should they request it. It is up to the council to decide what documentation is to be made automatically available to councillors. Not the chair or the clerk (nor NALC). Of course if giving every piece of paper to every councillor places an intolerable burden on the clerk then that of course is a matter that the council has to weigh up in making its decision as to what should be normal practice. Compromise and common sense usually win in the end.

Answer 2

The invoices need not be shown, but the Clerk should the Clerk should provide the invoice numbers along with the cost of all individual expenditure items on each invoice-  and that should be part of the agenda papers.  If approval for spending £1,289.35 on "Stationary" with Pongo's Office supplies on invoice number 123456-7A  is sought, without details of the individual items, e.g.  4 Packs A4 Printer paper, four Laser Printer cartridges,  ten acme 2Gb USB sticks  etc, how can members  claim they are monitoring & approving the spending of the council?

Comments

Thanks - very valid point and this is what the initial query was about - getting a good representation of the line items making the expenditure. We use an admin support company to do admin work for our Parish council (is that even allowed?), and we are provided with one line amount for that support company...and no other details...