Financial Information

Wem Rural Parish Council aims to give value for money as it raises and spends money for the benefit of the local community. It makes it clear where the money goes and is accountable for sound financial management.

Parish Councils that spends taxpayers' money has a duty to do so lawfully and must be confident that whenever it spends any money

it has the legal power (it is not acting beyond its powers)
it follows lawful procedures
it does not take unneccesary risks
transactions are transparent
councillors conform to standards in public decision making.

There is legislation that provides a detailed framework that Parish Councils must follow. Parish Councils must take responsibility for

appointing an appropriate officer to manage its finances
following lawful and proper financial procedures
deciding how much precept (the amount of money Shropshire Council collects on behalf of the Parish Council) to ask for from the council tax
establishing sound internal control (audit) systems
setting up its own financial regualtions
formally accepting the end of year accounts
submitting what is required to the external auditor
publishing the accounts and the results of audit

Monitoring and Control

At every Council meeting the Budget is monitored and explanations for any amounts under or over expenditure are discussed. Also, expenditure can only be approved at full Council meetings. The Council's finances are audited annually both internally (an independent official nominated by the Council) and externally (by auditors appointed by the Government's Audit Commission).

pdf Annual Return Notice 2011 (21.65KB)