Fill - Free fillable Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2 (London Institute of Management and Technology) PDF form

Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

To be completed only by Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards

and other smaller authorities* where the higher of gross income

or gross expenditure was £25,000 or less, that meet the qualifying

criteria, and that wish to certify themselves as exempt from a limited

assurance review

Guidance notes on completing Part 2 of the Annual Governance and

Accountability Return 2019/20

1. Every smaller authority in England where the higher of gross income or gross expenditure was £25,000

or less must, following the end of each nancial year, complete Part 2 of the Annual Governance and

Accountability Return in accordance with Proper Practices, unless the authority:

a) does not meet the qualifying criteria for exemption; or

b) does not wish to certify itself as exempt

2. Smaller authorities where the higher of all gross annual income or gross annual expenditure does not

exceed £25,000 and that meet the qualifying criteria as set out in the Certicate of Exemption are able

to declare themselves exempt from sending the completed Annual Governance and Accountability

Return to the external auditor for a limited assurance review provided the authority completes:

a) The Certicate of Exemption, page 3 and returns a copy of it to the external auditor either by email

or by post (not both) no later than 30 June 2020. Failure to do so will result in reminder letter(s) for

which the Authority will be charged £40 +VAT for each letter; and

b) The Annual Governance and Accountability Return (Part 2) which is made up of:

• Annual Internal Audit Report (page 4) to be completed by the authority’s internal auditor.

• Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement (page 5) to be completed and approved by the authority.

• Section 2 – Accounting Statements (page 6) to be completed and approved by the authority.

NOTE: Authorities certifying themselves as exempt SHOULD NOT send the completed Annual

Governance and Accountability Return to the external auditor.

3. The authority must approve Section 1 Annual Governance Statement before approving Section 2

Accounting Statements and both must be approved and published on a website before 1 July 2020.

Publication Requirements

Smaller authorities must publish various documents on a public website as required by the Accounts and

Audit Regulations 2015, the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015 and the Transparency Code

for Smaller Authorities. These include:

• Certicate of Exemption, page 3

• Annual Internal Audit Report 2019/20, page 4

• Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2019/20, page 5

• Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2019/20, page 6

• Analysis of variances

• Bank reconciliation

• Notice of the period for the exercise of public rights and other information required by Regulation 15 (2),

Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

Limited Assurance Review

Providing the authority certies itself as exempt, and completes and publishes the Annual Governance

and Accountability Return, there is no requirement for the authority to have a limited assurance review.

Any smaller authority may, however, request a limited assurance review. In these circumstances the authority

should not certify itself as exempt, and not complete the Certicate of Exemption, but complete Part 3

of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 and return it to the external auditor for review

together with the supporting documentation requested by the external auditor.

The cost to the smaller authority for the review will be £200 +VAT.

Page 1 of 6Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

The Annual Governance and Accountability Return constitutes the annual return referred to in the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

Throughout, the words ‘external auditor’ have the same meaning as the words ‘local auditor’ in the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

*for a complete list of bodies that may be smaller authorities refer to schedule 2 to the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

Page 2 of 6

Guidance notes on completing Part 2 of the Annual Governance and

Accountability Return 2019/20, Sections 1 and 2

• An authority that wishes to declare itself exempt from the requirement for a limited assurance review must

do so at a meeting of the authority after 31 March 2020. It should not submit its Annual Governance and

Accountability Return to the external auditor. However, as part of a more proportionate regime, the authority

must comply with the requirements of the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities.

• The Certicate of Exemption must be returned to the external auditor no later than 30 June 2020. Reminder

letters will incur a charge of £40 +VAT for each letter.

• The authority must comply with Proper Practices in completing Sections 1 and 2 of this Annual Governance

and Accountability Return and the Certicate of Exemption. Proper Practices are found in the Practitioners’

Guide* which is updated from time to time and contains everything needed to prepare successfully for the

nancial year-end.

• The authority should receive and note the annual internal audit report if possible before approving the

annual governance statement and the accounts.

• Make sure that the Annual Governance and Accountability Return is complete (no highlighted boxes left

empty), and is properly signed and dated. Avoid making amendments to the completed annual return. Any

amendments must be approved by the authority and properly initialled.

• Use the checklist provided below to review the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for

completeness at the meeting at which it is signed off.

• You should inform your external auditor about any change of Clerk, Responsible Financial Ofcer or

Chairman, and provide relevant email addresses and telephone numbers.

• The authority must publish numerical and narrative explanations for signicant variances in the accounting

statements on page 6. Guidance is provided in the Practitioners’ Guide* which may assist.

• Make sure that the accounting statements add up and the balance carried forward from the previous year

(Box 7 of 2019) equals the balance brought forward in the current year (Box 1 of 2020).

• The Responsible Financial Ofcer (RFO), on behalf of the authority, must set the commencement date for

the exercise of public rights. From the commencement date for a single period of 30 consecutive working

days, the approved accounts and accounting records can be inspected. Whatever period the RFO sets

must include a common inspection period – during which the accounts and accounting records of all

smaller authorities must be available for public inspection – of the rst ten working days of July.

• The authority must publish the information required by Regulation 15 (2), Accounts and Audit

Regulations 2015, including the period for the exercise of public rights and the name and address

of the external auditor before 1 July 2020.

Yes NoCompletion checklist – ‘No’ answers mean you may not have met requirements

All sections

Section 1

Section 2

Sections 1 and 2

Internal Audit Report

Have all highlighted boxes been completed?

For any statement to which the response is ‘no’, is an explanation available

for publication?

Has an explanation of signicant variations from last year to this year been

published?

Is an explanation of any difference between Box 7 and Box 8 available, should

a question be raised by a local elector and/or an interested party?

Have all highlighted boxes been completed by the internal auditor and

explanations provided?

Have the dates set for the period for the exercise of public rights been published?

Has the authority’s approval of the accounting statements been conrmed by

the signature of the Chairman of the approval meeting?

Trust funds – have all disclosures been made if the authority as a body corporate

is a sole managing trustee? (Local Councils only)

*Governance and Accountability for Smaller Authorities in England – a Practitioners’ Guide to Proper Practices,

can be downloaded from www.nalc.gov.uk or from www.ada.org.uk

Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

✔

Certicate of Exemption – AGAR 2019/20 Part 2

To be completed by smaller authorities where the higher of gross income or gross

expenditure did not exceed £25,000 in the year of account ended 31 March 2020,

and that wish to certify themselves as exempt from a limited assurance review

under Section 9 of the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015

There is no requirement to have a limited assurance review or to submit an Annual Governance and Accountability

Return to the external auditor, provided that the authority has certied itself as exempt at a meeting of the

authority after 31 March 2020 and a completed Certicate of Exemption is submitted no later than 30 June 2020

notifying the external auditor.

certies that during the nancial year 2019/20, the higher of the authority’s total gross income for the year or

total gross annual expenditure, for the year did not exceed £25,000

Total annual gross income for the authority 2019/20:

Total annual gross expenditure for the authority 2019/20:

There are certain circumstances in which an authority will be unable to certify itself as exempt, so that a limited

assurance review will still be required. If an authority is unable to conrm the statements below then it

cannot certify itself as exempt and it must submit the completed Annual Governance and Accountability Return

Part 3 to the external auditor to undertake a limited assurance review for which a fee of £200 +VAT will be payable.

By signing this Certicate of Exemption you are conrming that:

• The authority was in existence on 1st April 2016

• In relation to the preceding nancial year (2018/19), the external auditor has not:

• issued a public interest report in respect of the authority or any entity connected with it

• made a statutory recommendation to the authority, relating to the authority or any entity connected with it

• issued an advisory notice under paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 8 to the Local Audit and Accountability Act

2014 (“the Act”), and has not withdrawn the notice

• commenced judicial review proceedings under section 31(1) of the Act

• made an application under section 28(1) of the Act for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful,

and the application has not been withdrawn nor has the court refused to make the declaration

• The court has not declared an item of account unlawful after a person made an appeal under section 28(3) of the Act.

If you are able to conrm that the above statements apply and that the authority neither received gross income,

nor incurred gross expenditure, exceeding £25,000, then the Certicate of Exemption can be signed and a copy

submitted to the external auditor either by email or by post (not both).

The Annual Internal Audit Report, Annual Governance Statement, Accounting Statements, an analysis of

variances and the bank reconciliation plus the information required by Regulation 15 (2), Accounts and Audit

Regulations 2015 including the period for the exercise of public rights still need to be fully completed and, along

with a copy of this certicate, published on a public website* before 1 July 2020. By signing this certicate you

are also conrming that you are aware of this requirement.

Page 3 of 6

ENTER NAME OF AUTHORITY

ENTER AMOUNT £00,000

Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

ONLY this Certicate of Exemption should be returned EITHER by email OR by post (not

both) as soon as possible after certication to your external auditor, but no later than 30

June 2020. Reminder letters incur a charge of £40 +VAT

Telephone number

TELEPHONE NUMBER

AUTHORITY EMAIL ADDRESS REQUIRED

Email of Authority

PUBLISHED WEBSITE ADDRESS

*Published web address

Signed by the Responsible Financial Ofcer

SIGNATURE REQUIRED

DD/MM/YYYY DD/MM/YYYY

Date

DD/MM/YYYY

Date

SIGNATURE REQUIRED

Signed by Chairman

I conrm that this Certicate of

Exemption was approved by this

authority on this date:

as recorded in minute reference:

MINUTE REFERENCE

WINTERBORNE ST MARTIN PARISH COUNCIL

£7,839

£7,515

winterbornestmartin@dorset-aptc.gov.uk

07814 016971

https://www.martinstown-news.co.uk/the-parish-council

This authority’s internal auditor, acting independently and on the basis of an assessment of risk,

carried out a selective assessment of compliance with relevant procedures and controls to be in

operation during the nancial year ended 31 March 2020.

The internal audit for 2019/20 has been carried out in accordance with this authority’s needs

and planned coverage. On the basis of the ndings in the areas examined, the internal audit

conclusions are summarised in this table. Set out below are the objectives of internal control

and alongside are the internal audit conclusions on whether, in all signicant respects, the control

objectives were being achieved throughout the nancial year to a standard adequate to meet the

needs of this authority.

Annual Internal Audit Report 2019/20

ENTER NAME OF AUTHORITY

A. Appropriate accounting records have been properly kept throughout the nancial year.

B. This authority complied with its nancial regulations, payments were supported by invoices, all

expenditure was approved and VAT was appropriately accounted for.

C. This authority assessed the signicant risks to achieving its objectives and reviewed the adequacy

of arrangements to manage these.

D. The precept or rates requirement resulted from an adequate budgetary process; progress against

the budget was regularly monitored; and reserves were appropriate.

E. Expected income was fully received, based on correct prices, properly recorded and promptly

banked; and VAT was appropriately accounted for.

F. Petty cash payments were properly supported by receipts, all petty cash expenditure was

approved and VAT appropriately accounted for.

G. Salaries to employees and allowances to members were paid in accordance with this authority’s

approvals, and PAYE and NI requirements were properly applied.

J. Accounting statements prepared during the year were prepared on the correct accounting basis

(receipts and payments or income and expenditure), agreed to the cash book, supported by an

adequate audit trail from underlying records and where appropriate debtors and creditors were

properly recorded.

H. Asset and investments registers were complete and accurate and properly maintained.

I. Periodic and year-end bank account reconciliations were properly carried out.

If the authority certied itself as exempt from a limited assurance review in 2018/19, it met the

exemption criteria and correctly declared itself exempt. (If the authority had a limited assurance

review of its 2018/19 AGAR tick “not covered”)

Yes No*

Agreed? Please choose

one of the following

Internal control objective

Not

covered**

Page 4 of 6Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

*If the response is ‘no’ please state the implications and action being taken to address any weakness in control identied

(add separate sheets if needed).

**Note: If the response is ‘not covered’ please state when the most recent internal audit work was done in this area and when it is

next planned; or, if coverage is not required, the annual internal audit report must explain why not (add separate sheets if needed).

The authority has demonstrated that during summer 2019 it correctly provided for the exercise

of public rights as required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations.

For any other risk areas identied by this authority adequate controls existed (list any other risk areas on separate sheets if needed).

DD/MM/YYYYSIGNATURE REQUIRED

Date

Signature of person who

carried out the internal audit

DD/MM/YYYY DD/MM/YYYYDD/MM/YYYY

Name of person who carried out the internal auditDate(s) internal audit undertaken

ENTER NAME OF INTERNAL AUDITOR

M. (For local councils only)

Trust funds (including charitable) – The council met its responsibilities as a trustee.

Yes No Not applicable

WINTERBORNE ST MARTIN PARISH COUNCIL

✔

Ian Wigglesworth

Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2019/20

We acknowledge as the members of:

ENTER NAME OF AUTHORITY

our responsibility for ensuring that there is a sound system of internal control, including arrangements for

the preparation of the Accounting Statements. We conrm, to the best of our knowledge and belief, with

respect to the Accounting Statements for the year ended 31 March 2020, that:

Page 5 of 6

1. We have put in place arrangements for effective nancial

management during the year, and for the preparation of

the accounting statements.

2. We maintained an adequate system of internal control

including measures designed to prevent and detect fraud

and corruption and reviewed its effectiveness.

4. We provided proper opportunity during the year for

the exercise of electors’ rights in accordance with the

requirements of the Accounts and Audit Regulations.

5. We carried out an assessment of the risks facing this

authority and took appropriate steps to manage those

risks, including the introduction of internal controls and/or

external insurance cover where required.

6. We maintained throughout the year an adequate and

effective system of internal audit of the accounting

records and control systems.

7. We took appropriate action on all matters raised

in reports from internal and external audit.

8. We considered whether any litigation, liabilities or

commitments, events or transactions, occurring either

during or after the year-end, have a nancial impact on

this authority and, where appropriate, have included them

in the accounting statements.

9. (For local councils only) Trust funds including

charitable. In our capacity as the sole managing

trustee we discharged our accountability

responsibilities for the fund(s)/assets, including

nancial reporting and, if required, independent

examination or audit.

3. We took all reasonable steps to assure ourselves

that there are no matters of actual or potential

non-compliance with laws, regulations and Proper

Practices that could have a signicant nancial effect

on the ability of this authority to conduct its

business or manage its nances.

prepared its accounting statements in accordance

with the Accounts and Audit Regulations.

‘Yes’ means that this authority:Yes No

Agreed

made proper arrangements and accepted responsibility

for safeguarding the public money and resources in

its charge.

has only done what it has the legal power to do and has

complied with Proper Practices in doing so.

during the year gave all persons interested the opportunity to

inspect and ask questions about this authority’s accounts.

considered and documented the nancial and other risks it

faces and dealt with them properly.

arranged for a competent person, independent of the nancial

controls and procedures, to give an objective view on whether

internal controls meet the needs of this smaller authority.

responded to matters brought to its attention by internal and

external audit.

disclosed everything it should have about its business activity

during the year including events taking place after the year

end if relevant.

has met all of its responsibilities where as a body

corporate it is a sole managing trustee of a local trust

or trusts.

Yes No N/A

Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

Signed by the Chairman and Clerk of the meeting where

approval was given:

Chairman

Clerk

SIGNATURE REQUIRED

This Annual Governance Statement was approved at a

meeting of the authority on:

and recorded as minute reference:

MINUTE REFERENCE

DD/MM/YYYY

*For any statement to which the response is ‘no’, an explanation must be published

WINTERBORNE ST MARTIN PARISH COUNCIL

✔

Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2019/20 for

ENTER NAME OF AUTHORITY

Page 6 of 6Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20 Part 2

Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities

I certify that for the year ended 31 March 2020 the Accounting

Statements in this Annual Governance and Accountability

Return have been prepared on either a receipts and

payments or income and expenditure basis following the

guidance in Governance and Accountability for Smaller

Authorities – a Practitioners’ Guide to Proper Practices

and present fairly the nancial position of this authority.

I conrm that these Accounting Statements were

approved by this authority on this date:

Signed by Chairman of the meeting where the

Accounting Statements were approved

Signed by Responsible Financial Ofcer before being

presented to the authority for approval

as recorded in minute reference:

MINUTE REFERENCE

DD/MM/YYYY

SIGNATURE REQUIRED

Date

8. Total value of cash and

short term investments

9. Total xed assets plus

long term investments

and assets

10. Total borrowings

The sum of all current and deposit bank accounts, cash

holdings and short term investments held as at 31 March –

To agree with bank reconciliation.

The value of all the property the authority owns – it is made

up of all its xed assets and long term investments as at

31 March.

The outstanding capital balance as at 31 March of all loans

from third parties (including PWLB).

11. (For Local Councils Only) Disclosure note

re Trust funds (including charitable)

The Council as a body corporate acts as sole trustee for

and is responsible for managing Trust funds or assets.

N.B. The gures in the accounting statements above do

not include any Trust transactions.

Yes

1. Balances brought

forward

2. (+) Precept or Rates and

Levies

4. (-) Staff costs

5. (-) Loan interest/capital

repayments

6. (-) All other payments

7. (=) Balances carried

forward

3. (+) Total other receipts

Total balances and reserves at the beginning of the year

as recorded in the nancial records. Value must agree to

Box 7 of previous year.

Please round all gures to nearest £1. Do not leave any

boxes blank and report £0 or Nil balances. All gures must

agree to underlying nancial records.

Notes and guidanceYear ending

31 March

2019

31 March

2020

Total amount of precept (or for IDBs rates and levies)

received or receivable in the year. Exclude any grants

received.

Total income or receipts as recorded in the cashbook less

the precept or rates/levies received (line 2). Include any

grants received.

Total expenditure or payments made to and on behalf

of all employees. Include gross salaries and wages,

employers NI contributions, employers pension

contributions, gratuities and severance payments.

Total expenditure or payments of capital and interest

made during the year on the authority’s borrowings (if any).

Total expenditure or payments as recorded in the cash-

book less staff costs (line 4) and loan interest/capital

repayments (line 5).

Total balances and reserves at the end of the year. Must

equal (1+2+3) - (4+5+6).

WINTERBORNE ST MARTIN PARISH COUNCIL

10,910

12,142

5,500

2,698

2,339

2,410

3,341

4,555

4,174

12,142

12,466

12,142

12,466

59,758

60,148

✔

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Annual Governance and Accountability Return 201920 Part 2 (London Institute of Management and Technology)

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