Council Complaints Procedure does not cover financial irregularity other than during the public inspection

Question

The Parish Council is introducing a new complaints procedure which does not cover complaints relating to financial irregularities, as these are covered (it notes) local electors have a statutory right to object to the councils audit of accounts,  via the period for the exercise of public rights.    This would seem to bar any such complaint out with that period, and indeed any complaint arising from a financial irregularity out with an inspection of the audited accounts.  I see this as going beyond NALC guidelines - should I be worried?

Answer 1

The NALC guidelines recommend that financial irregularities, criminal activity and member conduct are not matters for a complaints procedure, as these fall within the remit of the internal auditor, the police and the monitoring officer respectively. Complaints under the complaints procedure will be dealt with by the council members or staff, who may not be suitably qualified or independent to investigate these matters.

Comments

Dave   Thanks - yes, it would be the case that if identified the complaints are farmed out to those best to deal with them.  But the procedure states that they will only be dealt with within the Period for the exercise of Public Rights.  Hence, if a member of the public notes that in the council run bar, people buy 7 pints but are only billed for 3, then its a financial irregularity and probably a criminal activity.  Under the proposed rule, if its a financial issue it can be punted into the period of exercise of public rights, rather than taken up and investigated by the appropriate personnel.  Sorry for not making it so clear er the working of the doc.  Also - if the annual budget is clearly wrong, the public then have to wait until the next year to ask questions.

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In that particular example, the council employs somebody, whether paid or unpaid, to sell beer and that person is not selling beer, but giving it away. That is a matter for the council's disciplinary procedure. If proven, that person should no longer be allowed to sell beer.

In theory, as dogs aren't just for Christmas, internal auditors aren't just for spring. Anybody may write to the internal auditor at any time to highlight concerns, but, unless these are of a very serious nature, they would be investigated as part of the normal audit process. Some councils, mainly larger ones, have an ongoing dialogue with their IA throughout the year.

Budgets are budgets. As much as I'd like to see them being an important aspect of the council's day-to-day operations, as set out in standing orders and financial regulations, sadly, they are frequently shelved shortly after adoption. Under the normal timetable, the public would have the opportunity to ask questions about the budget at the annual parish meeting, although things have been different during the pandemic.

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Thanks that is fine