The Autumn edition of Peterlee Magazine was delivered to homes in Peterlee over the last couple of weeks. Here’s a link to the online version as well, just in case you missed the paper version!
https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/lesley-palmer-advertising/lr-peterlee-town-council-autumn-2021?pid=MTg189672
PETERLEE TOWN COUNCIL
|
Notice of conclusion of the audit |
| Annual Return for the year ended 31st March 2021 |
Section 25 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015
| Notes | |
| 1. The audit of accounts for the Council for the year ended 31 March 2021 has been concluded.
2. The Annual Governance and Accountability Return is available for inspection by any local government elector of the area of the Council on application to: |
(a) Delete as appropriate |
|
(b) Ian Morris, Chief Officer, Peterlee Town Council, Shotton Hall, Old Shotton, Peterlee SR8 2PH |
(b) Insert name, position and address of the person to whom local government electors should apply to inspect the Annual Return |
| 2. Copies will be provided to any local government elector on payment of £1(c) for each copy of the Annual Return.
|
(c) Insert a reasonable sum for copying costs
|
| Announcement made by: (d) Ian Morris, Chief Officer
|
(d) Insert name and position of person placing the notice |
| Date of announcement: (e) 27th September 2021 | (e) Insert date of placing of the notice
|
Local council name: Peterlee Town Council
| Notice of appointment of date for the exercise of public rights |
| Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2021 |
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, and
The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 234)
| 1. Date of announcement: 29th June 2021 (a) | (a) Insert date of placing of this notice on your website. |
| 2. Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounts to be audited and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to them. For the year ended 31 March 2021 these documents will be available on reasonable notice on application to: | |
|
(b) Ian Morris, Chief Officer & Town Clerk, Peterlee Town Council Shotton Hall, Old Shotton, Peterlee SR8 2PH 0191 586 2491 |
(b) Insert name, position and contact details of the Clerk or other person to whom any person may apply to inspect the accounts. |
| commencing on (c) 30th June 2021
and ending on (d) 10th August 2021 |
(c )And
(d)The inspection period must be 30 working days in total and commence no later than 1 July 2021. |
| 3. Local Government Electors and their representatives also have: | |
| · the opportunity to question the auditor about the accounts; and | |
| · the right to make objections to the accounts or any item in them. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the Authority (f).
The auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose during the inspection period at 2 above. |
|
| 4. The audit is being conducted under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 and the National Audit Office’ Code of Audit Practice. Your audit is being carried out by:
Mazars LLP, The Corner, Bank Chambers, 26 Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1DF |
|
| 5. This announcement is made by (e)Ian Morris, Chief Officer
|
(e) Insert name and position of person placing the notice |
A pdf version of the notice can be viewed here: https://www.peterlee.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2021/06/Notice-of-exercise-of-public-rights-2021.pdf
By law any interested person has the right to inspect a council’s/meeting’s accounts. If you are entitled and registered to vote in local council elections then you (or your representative) have additional rights to ask the appointed auditor questions about the council’s accounts or object to an item of account contained within them.
When your council has finalised its accounts for the previous financial year it must advertise that they are available for people to inspect. Having given the council reasonable notice of your intentions, you then have 30 working days to look through the accounting statements in the Annual Return and any supporting documents. By arrangement, you will be able to inspect and make copies of the accounts and the relevant documents. You may have to pay a copying charge.
You can only ask the appointed auditor questions about the accounts. The auditor does not have to answer questions about the council’s policies, finances, procedures or anything else not related to the accounts. Your questions must be about the accounts for the financial year just ended. The auditor does not have to say whether they think something the council has done, or an item in its accounts, is lawful or reasonable.
If you think that the council has spent money that it should not have, or that someone has caused a loss to the council deliberately or by behaving irresponsibly, you can request the auditor to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is contrary to law. You do this by sending a formal ‘notice of objection’ to the auditor at the address below. The notice must be in writing and copied to the council. In it, you must tell the auditor why you are objecting and what you want the auditor to do about it. The auditor must reach a decision on your objection. If you are not happy with that decision, you can appeal to the courts.
You may also object if you think that there is something in the accounts that the auditor should discuss with the council or tell the public about in a ‘public interest report’. You must follow the same procedure as outlined in the previous paragraph. The auditor must then decide whether to take any action. The auditor does not have to, but usually will, give reasons for his/her decision and you cannot appeal to the courts. More information is available on the National Audit Office website (see contact details below).
You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your council. You should take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or your solicitor. You may also be able to approach the Standards Committee of your local principal authority if you believe that a member of the council has broken the Code of Conduct for Members.
Instead of objecting, you can give the auditor information that is relevant to his/her responsibilities. For example, you can simply tell the auditor if you think that something is wrong with the accounts or about waste and inefficiency in the way the council runs its services. You should make it clear that you are providing information rather than making a formal objection. You do not have to follow any set time limits or procedures. The auditor does not have to give you a detailed report of any subsequent investigation, but will usually tell you the outcome.
Councils, and so local taxpayers, must meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. In deciding whether to take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved. The auditor will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. If you appeal to the courts, you might have to pay for the action yourself.
Durham County Council have published the lists of people nominated for the Town Council elections on 6th May 2021.
These lists also include details of the polling stations for each ward.
Passfield Ward persons nominated and situation of polling stations
Howletch Ward persons nominated and situation of polling stations
Eden Hill Ward persons nominated and situation of polling stations
Dene House Ward persons nominated and situation of polling stations
Acre Rigg Ward persons nominated and situation of polling stations
The deadline for applying to vote by post or by postal proxy is 5pm on Tuesday 20th April 2021.
The deadline for applying to vote by proxy is 5pm on Tuesday 27th April 2021.
You can find out more about the elections process, registering to vote, and polling station opening hours here: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/24986/Durham-County-and-Parish-Council-elections-6-May-2021
Durham County Council has published the Notice of Elections for Peterlee Town Council. These notices are for the elections on 6th May 2021
The election notices can be viewed via the links below:
Peterlee Parish (Howletch Ward) Notice Of Election (Single Area) 2021
Peterlee Parish (Acre Rigg Ward) Notice Of Election (Single Area) 2021
Peterlee Parish (Eden Hill Ward) Notice Of Election (Single Area) 2021
Peterlee Parish (Dene House Ward) Notice Of Election (Single Area) 2021
Peterlee Parish (Passfield Ward) Notice Of Election (Single Area) 2021
To find out more about the elections please have a look at this Durham County Council webpage. And you can also contact the electoral services team on 03000 261 212 and by email electoralservices@durham.gov.uk
PETERLEE TOWN COUNCIL
|
Notice of conclusion of the audit |
| Annual Return for the year ended 31st March 2020 |
Section 25 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015
| Notes | |
| 1. The audit of accounts for the Council for the year ended 31 March 2020 has been concluded.
2. The Annual Governance and Accountability Return is available for inspection by any local government elector of the area of the Council on application to: |
(a) Delete as appropriate |
| (b) Ian Morris, Chief Officer
Petelee Town Council Shotton Hall Peterlee County Durham SR8 2PH |
(b) Insert name, position and address of the person to whom local government electors should apply to inspect the Annual Return |
| 2. Copies will be provided to any local government elector on payment of £1 for each copy of the Annual Return.
|
(c) Insert a reasonable sum for copying costs
|
| Announcement made by: (d) Ian Morris, Chief Officer
|
(d) Insert name and position of person placing the notice |
| Date of announcement: (e) 29th September 2020 | (e) Insert date of placing of the notice
|
For sale by sealed bids only
Peterlee Town Council is disposing of this Bear Cat wood chipper. Model number 72854s, PTO Driven, purchased in 2002, all service history included up to 2015. Sold as seen for spare and repair only.
If you would like to arrange a viewing of the machine prior to placing an order please contact Wayne Harriman on 07801244467 or 0191 5862491.
Any bids must be submitted in writing in a sealed envelope marked
‘FAO Ian Morris, Chief Officer, ref Bear Cat Bid’
and delivered to Shotton Hall, Peterlee SR8 2PH no later than 12pm on Wednesday 8th July 2020. Please ensure that you include your name and contact details with the bid!
Peterlee Town Council has published its annual return for the 2019/20 financial year as part of the annual process for the external auditing of the Council’s accounts.
You can access the documents relating to the annual return and annual accounts on the links at the bottom of this post. The period for inspection starts tomorrow, 25th June and ends 5th August 2020. You can read the formal notice here: Notice of appointment of date for the exercise of public rights
This information has been sent to the appointed External Auditors, Mazars LLP, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS and as such they are currently unaudited and subject to change.
Here is some information about the audit process provided by the external auditor:
Councils’ Accounts: A Summary of Public Rights
The basic position
By law any interested person has the right to inspect a council’s/meeting’s accounts. If you are entitled and registered to vote in local council elections then you (or your representative) have additional rights to ask the appointed auditor questions about the council’s accounts or object to an item of account contained within them.
The right to inspect the accounts
When your council has finalised its accounts for the previous financial year it must advertise that they are available for people to inspect. Having given the council reasonable notice of your intentions, you then have 30 working days to look through the accounting statements in the Annual Return and any supporting documents. By arrangement, you will be able to inspect and make copies of the accounts and the relevant documents. You may have to pay a copying charge.
The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounts
You can only ask the appointed auditor questions about the accounts. The auditor does not have to answer questions about the council’s policies, finances, procedures or anything else not related to the accounts. Your questions must be about the accounts for the financial year just ended. The auditor does not have to say whether they think something the council has done, or an item in its accounts, is lawful or reasonable.
The right to object to the accounts
If you think that the council has spent money that it should not have, or that someone has caused a loss to the council deliberately or by behaving irresponsibly, you can request the auditor to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is contrary to law. You do this by sending a formal ‘notice of objection’ to the auditor at the address below. The notice must be in writing and copied to the council. In it, you must tell the auditor why you are objecting and what you want the auditor to do about it. The auditor must reach a decision on your objection. If you are not happy with that decision, you can appeal to the courts.
You may also object if you think that there is something in the accounts that the auditor should discuss with the council or tell the public about in a ‘public interest report’. You must follow the same procedure as outlined in the previous paragraph. The auditor must then decide whether to take any action. The auditor does not have to, but usually will, give reasons for his/her decision and you cannot appeal to the courts. More information is available on the National Audit Office website (see contact details below).
You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your council. You should take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or your solicitor. You may also be able to approach the Standards Committee of your local principal authority if you believe that a member of the council has broken the Code of Conduct for Members.
What else you can do
Instead of objecting, you can give the auditor information that is relevant to his/her responsibilities. For example, you can simply tell the auditor if you think that something is wrong with the accounts or about waste and inefficiency in the way the council runs its services. You should make it clear that you are providing information rather than making a formal objection. You do not have to follow any set time limits or procedures. The auditor does not have to give you a detailed report of any subsequent investigation, but will usually tell you the outcome.
A final word
Councils, and so local taxpayers, must meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. In deciding whether to take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved. The auditor will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. If you appeal to the courts, you might have to pay for the action yourself.
Who should you contact?
| For more detailed guidance on electors’ rights and the special powers of auditors, copies of the publication Council Accounts – a guide to your rights are available by calling the National Audit Office on 020 7798 7000 or downloading from the website https://www.nao.org.uk/ | If you wish to contact your Council’s appointed external auditor please write to:
Cameron Waddell, Partner, Mazars LLP, local.councils@mazars.co.uk |
Peterlee Town Council Statement of Accounts 2019-2020
Bank – Cash and Investment Reconciliation as at 31 March 2020
Peterlee Reserves Reconciliation 2020
| Notice of appointment of date for the exercise of public rights |
| Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2020 |
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, and
The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 234)
| 1. Date of announcement: 24TH June 2020 (a) | (a) Insert date of placing of this notice on your website. |
| 2. Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounts to be audited and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to them. For the year ended 31 March 2020 these documents will be available on reasonable notice on application to: | |
|
(b) Ian Morris, Chief Officer & Town Clerk. Peterlee Town Council, Shotton Hall, Peterlee, County Durham SR8 2PH
|
(b) Insert name, position and contact details of the Clerk or other person to whom any person may apply to inspect the accounts. |
| commencing on (c) 25th June 2020 | . |
| and ending on (d) 5th August 2020 | (c )And (d) The inspection period must be 30 working days in total and commence no later than 1 September 2020. |
| 3. Local Government Electors and their representatives also have: | |
| · the opportunity to question the auditor about the accounts; and | |
| · the right to make objections to the accounts or any item in them. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the Council (f).
The auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose during the inspection period at 2 above. |
|
| 4. The audit is being conducted under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 and the National Audit Office’ Code of Audit Practice. Your audit is being carried out by:
Mazars LLP, Salvus House, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS |
|
|
5. This announcement is made by (e)) Ian Morris, Chief Officer & Town Clerk
|
(e) Insert name and position of person placing the notice |
Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2020
DECLARATION
The accounting statements attached on the link below (Section 2 of the Annual Governance & Accountability Return, Part3) have been submitted to the Council’s External Auditor, Mazars LLP, for review. As such they are unaudited and therefore subject to change. The audited accounting statements will be published by 30th November 2020.
Ian Morris
Chief Officer & Town Clerk
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