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LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTS: A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHTS
Please note that this summary applies to all relevant smaller authorities, including parish
meetings where there is no parish council.
The basic position
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the Act) governs the work of auditors appointed to smaller
authorities. This summary explains the provisions contained in Sections 26 and 27 of the Act. The Act
and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 also cover the duties, responsibilities and rights of smaller
authorities, other organisations and the public concerning the accounts being audited.
As a local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in respect of the accounting
records of smaller authorities. As an interested person you can inspect accounting records and related
documents. If you are a local government elector for the area to which the accounts relate you can also
ask questions about the accounts and object to them. You do not have to pay directly for exercising
your rights. However, any resulting costs incurred by the smaller authority form part of its running costs.
Therefore, indirectly, local residents pay for the cost of you exercising your rights through their council
tax.
The right to inspect the accounting records
Any interested person can inspect the accounting records, which includes but is not limited to local
electors. You can inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all
books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records. You
can copy all, or part, of these records or documents. Your inspection must be about the accounts, or
relate to an item in the accounts. You cannot, for example, inspect or copy documents unrelated to the
accounts, or that include personal information (Section 26 (6) – (10) of the Act explains what is meant
by
personal
information).
You
cannot
inspect
information
which
is
protected
by
commercial
confidentiality. This is information which would prejudice commercial confidentiality if it was released to
the public and there is not, set against this, a very strong reason in the public interest why it should
nevertheless be disclosed.
When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them,
they must publish them (including on a website). There must be a 30 working day period, called the
‘period for the exercise of public rights’, during which you can exercise your statutory right to inspect
the accounting records. Smaller authorities must tell the public, including advertising this on their
website, that the accounting records and related documents are available to inspect. By arrangement
you will then have 30 working days to inspect and make copies of the accounting records. You may
have to pay a copying charge. The 30 working day period must include a common period of inspection
during which all smaller authorities’ accounting records are available to inspect. This will be 1-14 July
2025 for 2024-25 accounts. The advertisement must set out the dates of the period for the exercise of
public rights, how you can communicate to the smaller authority that you wish to inspect the accounting
records and related documents, the name and address of the auditor, and the relevant legislation that
governs the inspection of accounts and objections.
The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounting records
You should first ask your smaller authority about the accounting records, since they hold all the
details. If you are a local elector, your right to ask questions of the external auditor is enshrined in law.
However, while the auditor will answer your questions where possible, they are not always obliged to
do
so. For example, the question might be better answered
by another organisation,
require
investigation beyond the auditor’s remit, or involve disproportionate cost (which is borne by the local
taxpayer). Give your smaller authority the opportunity first to explain anything in the accounting records
that you are unsure about. If you are not satisfied with their explanation, you can question the external
auditor about the accounting records.
The law limits the time available for you formally to ask questions. This must be done in the period for
the exercise of public rights, so let the external auditor know your concern as soon as possible. The
advertisement or notice that tells you the accounting records are available to inspect will also give the
period for the exercise of public rights during which you may ask the auditor questions, which here
means formally asking questions under the Act. You can ask someone to represent you when asking
the external auditor questions.