Finance

The Parish Precept is the money by which the Village Council runs their services and Council activities throughout the year; it is a peremptory order to a billing authority (namely North East Lincolnshire Council) to pay to the Village Council a named sum. This is payable in accordance with a schedule of instalments which the authority draws up by the 31 January for the financial year beginning the following 1 April.

The Laceby Village Council conducts a Budget/Precept meeting in December of each year to set the precept required from North East Lincolnshire Council and spending costs for the next financial year.

A copy of the Budget/Precept set by the Laceby Village Council may be obtained from the Clerk to the Laceby Village Council.

Payments of invoices and salaries are made by cheque or bacs each month, and all payments must be signed by two Councillors plus a third signatory which may be either the Clerk or another Councillor. All signatories are authorised by the Laceby Village Council and all payments must be agreed at a full Council meeting.

Annually the Laceby Village Council must employ an auditor who will inspect the Village Council’s accounts before making a declaration to the Audit Commission as to their accuracy. Each year the Laceby Village Council must also produce a Statement of Accounts and an Annual Governance Statement in respect of the accounting procedures in place – these are then sent to the Audit Commission for verification and a statement from them is then issued.

The Annual Statement of Accounts from the Audit Commission is then placed on the Laceby Village Council’s notice board in the village centre, their website, and a copy is available on application to the Clerk to the Council free of charge.