Call to support small parishes in battle over audit fees

Two weeks ago, the D&S Times highlighted the plight of Arkengarthdale Parish Council, which manages on a precept of just over £1,000 but found that the annual fee for auditing its accounts had risen fourfold to £216 plus VAT.

It challenged the fee, representing a fifth of its precept, and refused to the pay the bill but the district auditor was adamant the charge was fair.

The D&S Times has also reported on the position at Castle Bolton parish meeting, which this year had to raise its precept purely to cover the cost of the audit.

The Richmondshire area committee of the county council and the Yorkshire Local Councils' Association have already backed the Arkengarthdale councillors, and on Tuesday the county executive will be asked to press the Audit Commission and the Government for changes.

Head of committee services Stephen Knight says in a report to the executive: "At the area committee's meeting, various members and members of the public spoke of the circumstances of small parishes and the very serious problems that the audit fee was having, including putting people off from serving on parish councils."

Last year, the Audit Commission introduced a new system for parishes involving an external and independent internal auditor as well as more paperwork including an annual return which must be signed by both auditors.

Mr Knight says: "If a parish is not fortunate enough to secure internal audit for minimal or no cost, the cost of this plus external audit is making a huge difference."

The executive will be asked to call for a reduction in the external auditor's fee, set by the Audit Commission until 2006, payable by parishes with income or spending of less than £5,000 a year, and to press for reintroduction of the triennial audit scheme for parishes in that category. This would enable councillors to conduct an internal audit themselves, as they did between 1996 and 2002.

* Another council enters row, page 12