To recap, the Parish Council decided at a Special Meeting held on 20/06/2017 to the following:
4. ANNUAL RETURN
The Parish clerk requested that the Annual Return be deferred to the next council meeting as the internal auditors are scheduled to visit the Parish Office on Tuesday 27th June 2017.
It was:
RESOLVED that the report be received and this item be deferred until the next scheduled Council meeting on 4th July 2017.
What is in bold above is illegal!
The Councillors.
Of the 11 Parish Councillors remaining, 2 were absent. These were Krintas and Patel. The rest attended the meeting.
At the Annual Council Meeting held on 17th May 2017 the Standing Orders and Financial Regulations were confirmed.
15.1 Standing Orders
It was: RESOLVED that the Standing Orders be re-adopted as there were no changes required.
15.2 Financial Regulations
It was: RESOLVED that the Financial Regulations be re-adopted as there were no changes required.
The Standing Orders and Financial Regulations in the reports are here.
In the Standing Orders are the following rules:
17. Accounts and accounting statements
e The year end accounting statements shall be prepared in accordance with proper practices and applying the form of accounts determined by the council (receipts and payments, or income and expenditure) for a year to 31 March. A completed draft annual return shall be presented to each councillor before the end of the following month of May. The annual return of the council, which is subject to external audit, including the annual governance statement, shall be presented to council for consideration and formal approval before 30 June.
The Councils' own Standing Orders require the Annual Return and Annual Governance Statement to be presented to Council for consideration and FORMAL APPROVAL before 30th June 2017. All councillors should have read and understood these Standing Orders. I didn't know or understand is not an excuse.
25. Standing orders generally
a All or part of a standing order, except one that incorporates mandatory statutory requirements, may be suspended by resolution in relation to the consideration of an item on the agenda for a meeting.
Standing Order 25 allows Standing Order 17 to be suspended. But the Council DIDN'T. Suspending this standing wouldn't alter the fact the Council is still subject to the current Audit and Accounting regulations which meant the Annual Return has to be approved before 3rd July 2017.
In the Financial Regulations are the following rules:
2. ACCOUNTING AND AUDIT (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL)
2.3. The RFO shall complete the annual statement of accounts, annual report, and any related documents of the council contained in the Annual Return (as specified in proper practices) as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year and having certified the accounts shall submit them and report thereon to the council within the timescales set by the Accounts and Audit Regulations.
The regulations say the Annual Report must be approved by the Council before 3rd July 2017. The Councillors should be holding the RFO to account as to why this wasn't followed.
2.9. The RFO shall make arrangements for the exercise of electors’ rights in relation to the accounts including the opportunity to inspect the accounts, books, and vouchers and display or publish any notices and statements of account required by Audit Commission Act 1998, or any superseding legislation, and the Accounts and Audit Regulations.
The regulations say the Annual Report must be approved before 3rd July 2017 so the exercise of electors' rights can take place. The Councillors should be holding the RFO to account as to why this notice was not published until 7th July 2017 and the Annual Return on 10th July 2017.
18. SUSPENSION AND REVISION OF FINANCIAL REGULATIONS
18.2. The council may, by resolution of the council duly notified prior to the relevant meeting of council, suspend any part of these Financial Regulations provided that reasons for the suspension are recorded and that an assessment of the risks arising has been drawn up and presented in advance to all members of council.
The only way to suspend these Financial regulations is for a resolution to suspend these to be tabled in the agenda before the meeting. Again it wasn't.
In conclusion
The Councillors had all the information before them. Even if they are not au fait with the Accounts and Audit Regulations - they should be - their own Standing Orders says the Annual Return must be presented and approved by the Council before 30th June.
The Councillors who attended took an illegal decision which is against the law and their own standing orders to defer a decision on the Annual return until 4th July 2017.
I will be making a Code of Conduct Complaint about the actions of these Councillors.
The Parish Clerk, Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) and Proper Officer - All the same person - John Vickery.
Found in Community First:
"The clerk is adviser to the council. Part of their role is to provide information and guidance as to the law to aid council members in the decision making process. The clerk carries out the actions arising from council meetings and implements decisions."
The Parish Clerk is there to provide guidance to the law. Basically, if the Council is about to break the law the Parish Clerk should inform the Council immediately and minute this action. The Councillors could still go ahead against the advice of the Parish Clerk. But on their own heads be it. Yet John Vickery didn't in this case.
In fact, John Vickery asked Cambourne Parish Council, and in effect the Councillors, to break the law by asking the Annual Return to be deferred to 4th July Council Meeting. As the Parish Clerk, RFO and Proper Officer he must know the law, standing orders and financial regulations. These are part of his various job titles.
As his role of Parish Clerk, RFO and Proper Officer his job was to inform the Councillors that his own proposal to defer the Annual return to 4th July 2017 was unlawful and against standing orders and financial regulations. John Vickery didn't.
What is also amiss is the RFO must publish certain data. Even though he allegedly signed the Notice of Public Rights..... on 30th June 2017 this wasn't published until 7th July 2017. The Annual Return wasn't published until 10th July 2017. This was against the law that requires these documents to be published before 3rd July 2017. This is wrong and
What John Vickery should have done!
He should of informed the Councillors at the meeting of 20th June 2017 that to comply with the law a Special Council Meeting would have to held either on 28th or 29th June 2017 to comply with Standing Orders or 30th June, 1st July or 2nd July 2017 to comply with the law.
In not doing so he allowed the Council to break the law. If I broke the law at work this would be counted as Gross Misconduct for which I could be dismissed. What action are the Councillors going to take over this flagrant breaking of the law? Can John Vickery be trusted again over advice on the law and rules?
When members and officers of Cambourne Parish Council complain about others breaking the rules and the law they should admit they do as well.
Who is to blame for Cambourne Parish Council acting illegally?
1. The Councillors took the decision to defer the review of the Annual Report until 4th July 2017. Whilst Councillors could take some comfort that John Vickery as Parish Clerk, RFO and Proper Officer should have advised them that the decision to defer was illegal and against standing orders, it is their job to know what is going on and their standing orders which state the Annual return must be approved before 30th June. The Councillors were wrong to break the law and wrong to break their own standing orders. In the end they take the decision for the council not the Parish Clerk.
2. John Vickery was wrong to ask for the decision to defer the Approval of the Annual Return until 4th July 2017. He knew or should have known this request would mean the Council was breaking the law; its own standing orders and financial regulations.
In conclusion
Both the Councillors and the Parish Clerk, RFO and Proper Officer are all to blame for this. The Councillors took the decision and should have known this decision was illegal. A decision against their own Code of Conduct. In the end it is their decision.
As an employee of the Council John Vickery cannot be complained against by the public. What he has done wrong in allowing the Council to make an illegal decision and by not publishing the approved Annual Return and other documents before the due date of 3rd July 2017 is an internal matter. It is up to the Councillors whether they take disciplinary action against John Vickery. If they don't the power is with the Parish Clerk and the Councillors are useless!
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