Finance Summit Agenda

VAT for Town, Parish & Community Councils
Nick Burrows, PSTAX and Richard Strevens

In this session a mix of high-level introduction to how VAT applies to local councils and then some ‘hot topics’ that you may all face will be covered:

• VAT Recovery – Special powers (VAT Act 1994 s33)
• VAT Registration (if you’re not already, should you be?)
• Hot Topic – Community facilities (lettings)
• Hot Topic – Elections
• Hot Topic – Purchases from abroad

Streamline your budget setting process
Nicky Finch, Rialtas Business Solutions

In this session, our conference sponsors Rialtas explain how you can streamline and improve how you set budgets.  They will cover:

• What to consider when setting budgets and how to avoid common mistakes.
• Key terminology demystified.
• Which Rialtas tools can help you effectively set your budgets.
• Planning ahead via forward budgeting
• How larger councils can deal with Budget Phasing.

Precept Planning

Budgets are a tool to assist us in planning the financial layout for a defined period, and thus can help us in the important annual task of Precept setting.  This can be a daunting prospect if you have never done one, but at the end of the this short webinar you should feel confident in starting the process with your council.

Medium Term Financial Planning
Alan Mellor, SLCC National Finance Advisor

The Parish Council sector, along with  the country, is experiencing a very volatile financial landscape with significant rise in the rate of inflation and a probable tightening  public spending.

In this context it is important   that Parish Councils understand the longer term impacts of their precept setting decisions over the medium term.

This session will explore the importance of  assessing budgets for the Medium Term and how decisions that you make now will affect your financial position in years to come.

Our experience of CIL
Linda Larter MBE, Sevenoaks Town Council

A practitioners experience of working within the CIL structure, obtaining and using for projects.

We are members of the capital team in Local Government Finance at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Our team is primarily interested in local authorities capital investment and borrowing activity, and one of our key workstreams is having a stake in the PWLB borrowing for both major and minor authorities. The aim of our presentation is to give a brief overview of our function in the lending process for minor authorities (parish and town councils), discuss our current application turnover period, and gather feedback on how it could be improved.

Internal Audit – but it’s not all about the finance!
Jane Olds, Parish Clerk in Oxfordshire

Many people groan when the Internal Auditor comes to call, but it shouldn’t be like that.

Internal Audit isn’t just about the finance, but about the governance and processes of the whole Council.  So, whether you are Clerk to a large, medium, small or tiny Council, the responsibilities are similar.

This session should help delegates to understand that the internal auditor isn’t there to ‘catch you out’ but to help you and the Council move forward with the right systems and processes in place.