Welsh councils should adopt better financial arrangements

The Auditor General for Wales has said that councils need to improve the governance and financial management arrangements they have in place to better manage public money and assets.

The sixth annual report, which looks at the financial management and governance of over 730 town and community councils across Wales, says that, despite some improvement in governance arrangements, too many council still fail to comply with the statutory timetable for preparing accounts. In fact, according to the report, over 80 councils failed to meet the statutory deadline for accounts last year.

Areas highlighted as needing improvement and further inspection in future audits include focusing on financial management and governance, looking at how councils manage reserves and comply with statutory rules for certain types of expenditure, as well as a consultation on a national study which will access the adequacy and effectiveness of internal audit within the sector.

Huw Vaughan-Thomas, Auditor General, said: “Although town and community councils have made progress to improve their governance and management arrangements, many are still failing to publish their audited annual accounts in a timely way, and there are still too many receiving qualified audit opinions. As their revenues continue to increase, it important that councils improve their governance arrangements, and ensure their members adopt and comply with a code of conduct, so that they fully understand and comply with their statutory responsibilities.”