The Transparency Code for smaller councils was introduced by central government in 2015 to ensure that all Councils with an annual turnover of up to £25,000 make public a raft of information about their financial dealings and governance, as part of a set of moves designed among others to reduce the audit burden on smaller Councils.
Claxton Parish Council has published its returns every year since then. This is the seventh return and comes shortly after the close of financial year 2020-21. The Parish Council is required to publish:
AAAAall items of expenditure above £100
AAAAend of year accounts
AAAAannual governance statement
AAAAinternal audit report
AAAAlist of councillor or member responsibilities
AAAAdetails of public land and building assets
AAAAminutes, agendas and meeting papers of formal meetings
Claxton’s contribution to the Code for the financial year 2020-21 follows below.
All items of expenditure above £100
All individual items of expenditure, both above and below £100, are listed in the bi-monthly minutes of the Council, which can be viewed elsewhere in this website. In practice there are few in excess of £100, and these are set out below. All VAT is recovered as a matter of course in the following financial year. All but number 8 below are recurring items of expenditure.
- The Clerk’s salary (£2,453.73) paid monthly.
- The Clerk’s income tax payable on her salary (£128.80) paid every two months.
- The grounds’ maintenance contract with Loddon Garden & DIY (2 instalments of £354.17 excluding VAT) paid in May and November.
- The Council’s insurance premium (£171.59) paid in May each year.
- A contribution towards fibre broadband at the Village Hall, which came to £240 in 2020-21.
- Two annual grants of £300 each (£600 in total) made to Claxton Parochial Church Council as a contribution to churchyard maintenance costs in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
- The cost (£109.40 excluding VAT) of emptying the dog bin at the Village Hall.
- The cost of tree work at the Village Hall (on Parish Council-owned land) which came to £790 (no VAT).
End of year accounts
Internal Audit Report 2020-21
(AGAR 2021 Pages 1 and 2 are cover pages)
AGAR 2020-21 Page 3 Certificate of Exemption 2020/21
AGAR 2020-21 Page 4 Annual Internal Audit Report 2020/21
AGAR- 2020-21 Page 5 Annual Governance Statement 2020/21
AGAR 2020-21 Page 6 Accounting Statements 2020/21
Notice of Public Rights 2021
Bank Reconciliation 31 March 2021
Explanation of variances from budget 2020/21
List of councillor or member responsibilities
The list of responsibilities allocated to individual Councillors is shown in the PARISH COUNCIL/Policies tab on this site. All Parish Councillors’ details appear on the website. All Parish Councillors are also automatically Trustees on the Claxton Parish Pit Charity (the Pits Trust).
Details of public land and building assets
The Council does not own any buildings. It does however own the land on which the Village Hall stands, together with the Village Green at the Warren. The land at the Village Hall site is some 0.67 acres (0.27 hectares, 2,700 m²) and the land at the Warren measures some 0.40 acres (0.16 hectares, 1,600 m²).
The date when these two sites were acquired is unknown, as is the current value. Both are now used exclusively for community purposes.
Minutes, agendas and meeting papers of formal meetings
All minutes and all draft agendas for future meetings are regularly posted on the website and the Parish Council notice board, and minutes dating back to 2011 can also be found on the website. Agendas are removed from the website and notice board once the meetings have taken place, but copies of Agendas from November 2015 are available electronically free of charge from the Clerk. The Clerk holds the current official Minutes Book, previous copies of which have been sent to the County Archives in Norwich, and can be viewed there if required.
