Financial Regulations
The Parish Council’s Financial Regulations govern the conduct of financial management by the council and may only be amended or varied by resolution of the council. Financial Regulations must be observed in conjunction with the council’s Standing Orders and Code of Conduct for members and any individual financial regulations relating to contracts. The Financial Regulations can be found in the council’s Policies.
We recognise the importance of a fully accountable, open and honest approach to ensuring that fraud is deterred and provide a framework within which any fraud would be detected.
The following measures are already in place to deter fraud:
- All invoices examined and approved by two members of the Council
- All cheques for payment signed by two members of the Council
- All payments by bank transfer authorised by two members of the Council
- Accounts for payment reviewed and approved at each full Council meeting
- Regular review of year-to-date expenditure compared against budget
- Annual review of Risk Register
- Regular reviews of internal financial controls by nominated councillor, signed and reported to full Council meeting
- Annual review of internal controls as part of internal audit
- Annual internal audit to verify that records have been kept appropriately
- Annual accounts submitted to government appointed external auditor
Local Government Transparency Code, 2015 requires that we publish details of the following:
- Prevention of Social Housing Fraud: Stanford in the Vale Parish Council does not administer any social housing and therefore, does not undertake any counter-fraud measures with regard to this.
- We have no employees undertaking investigations and prosecutions of fraud
- We have no professionally accredited counter fraud specialists
- The investigation and prosecution of fraud has cost the Parish Council £0 (nil)
- We have not identified any cases of fraud, and therefore no cases have been investigated