Archive for category: News

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The next big event funded by Wrose Parish Council  is Wrose Live!

Saturday 25 July from 11:30am at The Bold Privateer.

Find out more information on the Wrose Parish Council Facebook page.

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 26 and 27

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)

NOTICE

1. Date of announcement_____23 June 2026_________________________ 2. Each year the smaller authority’s Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor appointed by Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd.  The unaudited AGAR has been published with this notice. As it has yet to be reviewed by the appointed auditor, it is subject to change as a result of that review. Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records must be made available for inspection by any person interested. For the year ended 31 March 2026, these documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to:  Ruth Thompson. Clerk/RFO Telephone: 07513 773425 Email: Clerk@wroseparishcouncil.gov.uk_ commencing on Wednesday 1 July 2026 and ending on Tuesday 11 August 2026 3. Local government electors and their representatives also have:  ·       The opportunity to question the appointed auditor about the accounting records; and ·       The right to make an objection which concerns a matter in respect of which the appointed auditor could either make a public interest report or apply to the court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the smaller authority. The appointed auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose between the above dates only. 4. The smaller authority’s AGAR is subject to review by the appointed auditor under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the NAO’s Code of Audit Practice 2024.  The appointed auditor is: PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team) 30 Churchill Place London E14 5RE (sba@pkf-l.com) 5. This announcement is made by (e) Ruth Thompson Clerk/RFO

LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTS: A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHTS

 Please note that this summary applies to all relevant smaller authorities, including local councils, internal drainage boards and ‘other’ smaller authorities.

 The basic position

The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the Act) governs the work of auditors appointed to smaller authorities. This summary explains the provisions contained in Sections 26 and 27 of the Act. The Act and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 also cover the duties, responsibilities and rights of smaller authorities, other organisations and the public concerning the accounts being audited.

As a local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in respect of the accounting records of smaller authorities. As an interested person you can inspect accounting records and related documents. If you are a local government elector for the area to which the accounts relate you can also ask questions about the accounts and object to them. You do not have to pay directly for exercising your rights. However, any resulting costs incurred by the smaller authority form part of its running costs. Therefore, indirectly, local residents pay for the cost of you exercising your rights through their council tax.

The right to inspect the accounting records

Any interested person can inspect the accounting records, which includes but is not limited to local electors. You can inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records. You can copy all, or part, of these records or documents. Your inspection must be about the accounts, or relate to an item in the accounts. You cannot, for example, inspect or copy documents unrelated to the accounts, or that include personal information (Section 26 (6) – (10) of the Act explains what is meant by personal information). You cannot inspect information which is protected by commercial confidentiality. This is information which would prejudice commercial confidentiality if it was released to the public and there is not, set against this, a very strong reason in the public interest why it should nevertheless be disclosed.

 

When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them, they must publish them (including on a website). There must be a 30 working day period, called the ‘period for the exercise of public rights’, during which you can exercise your statutory right to inspect the accounting records. Smaller authorities must tell the public, including advertising this on their website, that the accounting records and related documents are available to inspect. By arrangement you will then have 30 working days to inspect and make copies of the accounting records. You may have to pay a copying charge. The 30 working day period must include a common period of inspection during which all smaller authorities’ accounting records are available to inspect. This will be 1-14 July 2026 for 2025/26 accounts. The advertisement must set out the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights, how you can communicate to the smaller authority that you wish to inspect the accounting records and related documents, the name and address of the auditor, and the relevant legislation that governs the inspection of accounts and objections.

 

The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounting records

 You should first ask your smaller authority about the accounting records, since they hold all the details. If you are a local elector, your right to ask questions of the external auditor is enshrined in law. However, while the auditor will answer your questions where possible, they are not always obliged to do so. For example, the question might be better answered by another organisation, require investigation beyond the auditor’s remit, or involve disproportionate cost (which is borne by the local taxpayer). Give your smaller authority the opportunity first to explain anything in the accounting records that you are unsure about. If you are not satisfied with their explanation, you can question the external auditor about the accounting records.

The law limits the time available for you formally to ask questions. This must be done in the period for the exercise of public rights, so let the external auditor know your concern as soon as possible. The advertisement or notice that tells you the accounting records are available to inspect will also give the period for the exercise of public rights during which you may ask the auditor questions, which here means formally asking questions under the Act. You can ask someone to represent you when asking the external auditor questions.

Before you ask the external auditor any questions, inspect the accounting records fully, so you know what they contain. Please remember that you cannot formally ask questions, under the Act, after the end of the period for the exercise of public rights. You may ask your smaller authority other questions about their accounts for any year, at any time. But these are not questions under the Act.

You can ask the external auditor questions about an item in the accounting records for the financial year being audited. However, your right to ask the external auditor questions is limited. The external auditor can only answer ‘what’ questions, not ‘why’ questions. The external auditor cannot answer questions about policies, finances, procedures or anything else unless it is directly relevant to an item in the accounting records. Remember that your questions must always be about facts, not opinions. To avoid misunderstanding, we recommend that you always put your questions in writing.

The right to make objections at audit

 

You have inspected the accounting records and asked your questions of the smaller authority. Now you may wish to object to the accounts on the basis that an item in them is in your view unlawful or there are matters of wider concern arising from the smaller authority’s finances. A local government elector can ask the external auditor to apply to the High Court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, or to issue a report on matters which are in the public interest. You must tell the external auditor which specific item in the accounts you object to and why you think the item is unlawful, or why you think that a public interest report should be made about it. You must provide the external auditor with the evidence you have to support your objection. Disagreeing with income or spending does not make it unlawful. To object to the accounts you must write to the external auditor stating you want to make an objection, including the information and evidence below and you must send a copy to the smaller authority. The notice must include:

• confirmation that you are an elector in the smaller authority’s area;
• why you are objecting to the accounts and the facts on which you rely;
• details of any item in the accounts that you think is unlawful; and
• details of any matter about which you think the external auditor should make a public interest report.

Other than it must be in writing, there is no set format for objecting. You can only ask the external auditor to act within the powers available under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

 

A final word

You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your smaller authority.  You should take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or to your solicitor. Smaller authorities, and so local taxpayers, meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections.  In deciding whether to take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved, they will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. They may also decide not to consider an objection if they think that it is frivolous or vexatious, or if it repeats an objection already considered. If you appeal to the courts against an auditor’s decision not to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, you will have to pay for the action yourself.

 

For more detailed guidance on public rights and the special powers of auditors, copies of the publication Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights are available from the NAO website.

If you wish to contact your authority’s appointed external auditor please write to the address in paragraph 4 of the Notice of Public Rights and Publication of Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return.

 

 

Following our recent local consultation about what new play items residents would like to see, Wrose Parish Council has agreed to fund two new pieces of play equipment for Claremount Park.

• A small slide suitable for younger children
• A double swing for older children with one flat and one inclusive seat

We’ll now be working with Bradford Metropolitan District Council to source the equipment and arrange installation in the park.

Once installed, Bradford Metropolitan District Council will take care of the ongoing inspections and maintenance of the new items as part of the wider play-area management.

We’ll share another update as soon as the equipment is in place. Thanks to everyone who took part in the consultation — your feedback is helping to shape a better play space for local families.

Wrose Parish Council have announced that the popular all-day music event, Wrose Live!, will be back at The Bold Privateer on Saturday 25 July and this year it will be ‘bigger and better’ than ever before.

The event sees the car park at The Bold Privateer turned into a gig space, with seating and food for gig goers and live music from 11:30am to 4:30pm with a DJ playing inside the pub in the evening for those who want to continue the entertainment.

Popular Wrose business Rita’s Indian Kitchen will be providing hot food all day, “We’ve got a fantastic menu to tickle your taste buds! Whether you are vegan or love a chicken curry, we have everything from the classic Indian street food such as samosa chaat to burgers with a bhaji!”

The music is organised by Bren Travis of Live at the Lounge, who said, “Once again Wrose Live! brings you some of the area’s best upcoming and established bands including The Idle Crooner, Least We Got Shoes, Havoc City and Henrys Radio, back-to-back and in the sun for Wrose’s fastest-growing community festival.”

Tammy Marie, Landlord for The Bold Privateer, said, “It’s a great pleasure to be co-hosting this fantastic community event for the third year. It’s a great day for all the community to come together and see what the best of our local talent has to offer.”

This year’s event is being kindly supported by SetStage stage and sound hire, who are building the stage for free in a generous contribution to the community.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, local ward councillor and Chair of Wrose Parish Council, who are funding the event, said, “We’re so pleased to be delivering Wrose Live! for a third year, and even more so that SetStage are so kindly building us a proper stage to really make the event bigger and better than ever before. It’s a great day for people to come down and enjoy live music in a great, friendly setting and we’d like to thank everyone involved, particularly Tammy and the team at The Bold Privateer, who make this happen.”

 

Wrose Parish Council is pleased to have provided support to Wrose Runners by helping to keep members warm, visible and safe during their running sessions.

Some warm running hats and glow light bands have been donated to the group, ensuring runners are better protected during the colder, darker months. The simple but effective light bands make a real difference to safety for those running in the evenings.

Wrose Runners are a local group that encourage fitness, well being and community spirit and welcome new attendees. A representative from the group said  “We meet every Thursday at 6.45pm at the Wrose Rock at top of Carr Lane. We run different routes and distances each week between 5-8k. All abilities are welcome and we have people of all age groups and abilities that currently run with us. We’re totally free so just rock up and run with us! ”

Wrose Parish Council wishes Wrose Runners every success and many safe miles ahead