What the Parish Clerk informed me about the accounts.

John Vickery says:

The Council had requested an extension of time to the 10th July 2017 from Littlejohn LLP (the External Auditor)  for the submission of the annual return. This was received on the 28th June 2017. Therefore the Councillors acted lawfully in deferring the consideration of the Annual Return to the 4th July 2017.

Yet the Auditors have no power to make extensions. They are under the same law as the Council. The Council had already decided on 20th June 2017 to delay the approval until 4th July 2017. Any extension was not lawfully valid. As can be seen from the Annual Return:

As can be seen from the Annual Return the Parish Council has been qualified for not publishing the Annual Return before 3rd July 2017.

Qualified Accounts for Cambourne Parish Council

The PKF Littlejohn LLP (the external auditors for Cambourne Parish Council) have reported on the 2016/17 accounts. These accounts are qualified (which is bad) rather than unqualified (which is good).

This is the second time, in its short history, Cambourne Parish Council has had qualified accounts. Previously, the 2013/14 accounts were qualified.

The reason the 2016/17 accounts were qualified was:

The Councillors agreed with the statement below:

The Parish Council has been pulled up on this because they said Yes when CPC didn't prepare the accounts in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations. They should have said No!

How did this happen?

The start was the Council Meeting of 20th July 2017. The Parish Clerk (also Proper Officer and Responsible Finance Officer) requested the Council defer the Annual Return until 4th July 2017. The councillors agreed.

This decision is illegal. The law requires that the Annual Return to be approved and published before, for this year, 3rd July 2017. It is also against The Councils' own standing orders which state the Annual Return must be present to Council by 30th June 2017. This decision also went against the Councils' own Financial Regulations.

The Parish Clerk published on 7th July 2017 the Notice of Public Rights etc dated 30th June 2017. This had the common period of public inspection as starting 3rd July 2017. Not only was this 5 days after it should have been published it was not accompanied by the Annual Return which wasn't agreed until 4th July 2017.

On 10th July 2017 the Parish Clerk tried again. This time publishing the Annual Return. This should have been published before 3rd July 2017.

Having made a hash of this  so far the Parish Clerk tried once again and on 24th July 2017 published the Notice of Public Rights etc. This time he got is right but very late.

Need this have come to pass?

The answer is no. The Council had time to call a Council Meeting to approve the Annual Return before the 3rd July 2017. It was tight but with proper management could be achieved.

The reason they didn't is the Councillors didn't follow the law and their own standing orders and financial regulations. The Councillors agreed to defer the approval to 4th July 2017. The law is the law and can only be changed by or through Parliament. A Council has to act within the law and the powers and duties given to it. The Councillors, who were at the meeting of 20th June 2017, by deferring the approval to 4th July 2017 broke the law as they didn't have the power to do this.

The idea that Councillors didn't know the law is no excuse. They passed their revised standing orders and financial regulations on 17th May 2017. Don't theses Parish Councillors read what they agreed.

This is not good governance.

Cambourne Parish Council keeps breaking the law!

The law says:

Publication of statement of accounts and annual governance statement for Category 2
authorities
13.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), a Category 2 authority must, after the conclusion of the period
for the exercise of public rights but not later than 30th September of the financial year
immediately following the end of the financial year to which the statement relates, publish (which
must include publication on that authority’s website)—
(a) the statement of accounts together with any certificate or opinion entered by the local
auditor in accordance with section 20(2) of the Act; and
(b) the annual governance statement approved in accordance with regulation 6(3).
(2) Where documents are published under paragraph (1), the authority must—
(a) keep copies of those documents for purchase by any person on payment of a reasonable
sum; and
(b) ensure that those documents remain available for public access for a period of not less
than five years beginning with the date on which those documents were first published in
accordance with that paragraph. 

Cambourne Parish Council waited until 20th October 2017, well after it should have done to put these documents on their website.

Cambourne Parish Council just keeps breaking the law.

The new Parish Council website?

The new website was supposed to be live on 31st July 2017. Over the weekend 5/6 August the Cambourne Crier was delivered. On the Parish Council page was the following:

New website 

Cambourne Parish Council has revamped its website to have a new look with lots of new features. There are now ‘report it’ buttons for things such as graffiti and vandalism, overflowing litter & dog bins and faulty streetlights. There is also a wealth of information and news. The website will continue to be developed and updated. www.cambourneparishcouncil.gov.uk

Having announced this in the Cambourne Crier the Parish Council can be seen in its true colours because looking at the website this morning there are:

NO:revamped website 
NO: lots of new features
NO: ‘report it’ buttons
NO: wealth of information and news

Ron says: I find this typical of the Parish Council. They get there Annual Return in late and can't get the new website up.

It's 5 o'clock and it's the new CPC website - NOT

It is 5pm and I'm looking for the new CPC website that is supposed to start today. As Cambourne Parish Council Offices close for the day, the website is still the same as the old one. Nothing in the news to say what is happening. Why should CPC inform the residents who pay for this chaos?

SCDC puts up barriers to complaining about Councillors

I have made complaints against 3 District Councillors over their Register of Interests. The webpage on the SCDC website says the following:

Complaints about councillor conduct
Code of Conduct Complaints Process

If you wish to complain about the conduct of a member of South Cambridgeshire District Council or a member of a town or parish council in South Cambridgeshire you may submit a complaint in writing (with supporting evidence) to:- 

The Monitoring Officer
South Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire Hall
Cambourne Business Park
Cambourne
Cambridge
CB23 6EA 

or via email to monitoring.officer@scambs.gov.uk. In your complaint you should set out in full ( attaching evidence as appropriate) why you think a member has not followed the Code of Conduct.

Ron says: That is what I did. I put the complaint in writing and attached the evidence and emailed all this to the Monitoring Officer. This is what I received back:

Tom Lewis

Dear Mr. Swanson

I refer to your e mail below which was received by South Cambridgeshire District Council on the evening of Monday 24th July and other similar e mails in relation to Cllr’s Topping and Nightingale.

Our Code of Conduct Complaints Procedure states ”If a Complaint is received other than on the Standard Complaint Form, we will not consider it but we will send the Complainant a copy of the form for completion.”

Therefore I attach the form for completion which can be returned to me directly.

I also attach a link detailing the procedure for how complaints are handled;

http://scambs.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s101233/P%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20Complaints%20Proceudre.pdf

I await hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Tom Lewis


Monitoring Officer South Cambridgeshire District Council

Ron says: having followed the procedure as set out on the SCDC website a barrier is now thrown up to delay or put off the complaint.

The new CPC website?

The new Cambourne Parish Council website is supposed to start today, Monday 31st July 2017. So far the old website is up. The picture below was taken at 9.47 am.

New website on 31st July 2017

At the last Council meeting on 4th July 2017 the chairman announced:

The Chairman reported that the Parish Council’s new website is expected to go live on 31st July 2017. 

I wait with baited breath to see if this happens and that all the legal bits have been added. Legal bits such as:

Councillor Register of Interests.
The Constitution.
The Complaints Procedure.
Publication Scheme.
Freedom of Information scheme.
Standing Orders
Financial Regulations

to name but a few.

Parish To Town - More self aggrandisement

In Simon Crocker's valedictory speech he said the following:

The first question is what is the difference between a Parish Council and a Town Council. The only differences are the Parish Clerk becomes a Town Clerk and the Town Council can elect a Town Mayor instead of a Chairman.

Therefore not only the expense of changing the title from Parish to Town but also the expense of a Chain of Office, other regalia and the outfit.

CPC is getting above itself. It is a Parish Council not a District Council. The bigger it gets the more it wants. All from a council that is nearly 50% unelected.

Ron says: No! No! No!

Parish clerk to CEO

In his valedictory sermon as Chairman of CPC, Simon Crocker said the following:

What is a CEO. Checking Google I found a CEO = Chief Executive Officer. What Simon is calling for is a pumped up title for what is a Parish Clerk or even a Town Clerk. I can understand why SCDC has a Chief Executive in charge of running a council which collects the rubbish, Council Housing and Planning amongst other service. What I cannot understand is why call John Vickery a Chief Executive for someone who is in charge of cutting the grass.

Ron says: There is nothing wrong with being the Clerk. It is a good job and good description of the job. Changing the job title to CEO is just pumping up the job title. Next, we may hear calls for a CEO pay packet. The Deputy Parish Clerk would become Deputy CEO. The Office Administrator would become the Office Manager and the Head Groundsman would become the Leisure Manager. This is a parish council not a District Council.

Powerless CPC

In the minutes of the Planning Meeting 4th July 2017 under chairman's announcements the following is said:

"The Parish Clerk reported that it was not within the powers of the Parish Council to install the bollards."

The first port of call in checking this is the General Power of  Competence. This allows a Parish council that has adopted this power (CPC has) to do anything it wishes that a person can except that is prohibited by law.

Looking at this, as a person cannot just put up signs on a Highway this power cannot be used. The GPC is useless in this instance.

Looking at the Powers of a Parish Council the following is stated:

From the looks of the above, the Parish Council does have a power to erect signs and other objects. A lesson here is always read the legislation. The RTR Act 1984 s.72 says:

(1)A parish or community council may, with the permission of the highway authority and subject to any conditions imposed by that authority, provide on or near any road, other than a footpath or bridleway, or may contribute, either wholly or in part, towards the cost of providing on or near any such road, traffic signs indicating—
(a)a stopping place for public service vehicles;
(b)a warning of the existence of any danger; or
(c)the name of the parish or community or of any place in it.

Whilst CPC has the power to provide signs this is only with the permission of the Highways Authority. CPC doesn't have the power to provide highway signs and other objects on its own.

What is the point of this power? A power is given by parliament to the Parish Council to do something. Without that power the Parish Council cannot do unless it uses Section 137 money.

Ron says: a quick look at Google and this is what I have found. Hardly rocket science.

WTFWARFCU

With Tender Feelings What A F-ing Mess

Cambourne Parish Council is in a right mess. John Vickery, the Parish Clerk, (Chief Executive Officer), (ir)Responsible Financial Officer and Proper Officer is making of the Annual Return into a long drawn out affair. Having produced one Notice:

John Vickery has been forced to produce another notice.

Residents right to inspect starts on 25th July 2017. Not 3rd July 2017.

This is after informing the Council that:

Not 5th July 2017 either.

Ron says: I hope this is the last change. The law is very simple over all this and yet John Vickery is getting this wrong time and again.