External Auditor's report now in

The External Auditor's report is now in - filed under the Finance and Accounts tab - 2025/26 - Conclusion of Audit.

To summarise - a complete bill of health.

This was our first external audit for quite some years. Since they brought in the rule that those councils with neither income nor expenditure over £25,000 could declare themselves exempt from external audit, we have always done so (being well below that limit). This year we had received the £60,000 community benefit payment so our income was way over £25K - and it also resulted in us being charged more than the basic rate - we have to pay £315 (plus VAT but we reclaim that next year)..

Sadly given the time of year that the payment was received we were unable to get it out on investment until after 1 Apr so next year we will have to go through external audit again because our expenditure (ie investing it) will be over £25K.