Many Clerks get confused by the Electors’ Rights requirement in the Accounts and Audit Regulations – and it’s not surprising as it’s not very straight forward!
In short, all Councils should provide the public with the right to see the accounts in person (with suitable redaction of staff and confidential payments where appropriate) over a specified period.
This specified period has to be for 30 (THIRTY) working days and must cover the first 10 (TEN) working days of July.
So you can either start in June and finish in the middle of July, or you can start on 1 July and finish 30 working days afterwards – or something in between.
However, this year we have the added complication of a bank holiday on what would usually have been the first day allowable.
So, the first date you can start is now 1 June, but remember that the bank holiday and the weekends won’t count, so the final day (from 1 June) would be 14 July. This year last date possible is Thursday 11 August.
Don’t forget that you’ll need to have had the AGAR and accounts finalised before the notice is published. It’s good practise to get the dates minuted at the meeting where the AGAR has been agreed. Also remember to date the notice for the day before it’s published.
See here for more about the Year End processes
I now have an updated calculator sheet (with many thanks to my husband for the techy formatting) which will work out whether your dates will work – download the spreadsheet here
I hope this helps.