About Wrinehill

  Already the Betley Parish Accounts for 2025-2026 are being discussed and the precept drawn up.   At the end of the financial year 2023-24 the Betley Parish Council received an external audit, which was published, eventually, in November 2024.   The report made interesting reading in that the External Auditor found ‘significant weaknesses within the Parish Council system’ and that ‘the Council should ensure that the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) form in 2024-25 is prepared in accordance with proper practices’.   This would support the view of the only Councillor who had frequently queried the accounts and the way in which the AGAR Form had been completed by the Parish Council over the last two years, and more latterly, the Audit and Accounts Committee. Clearly the ‘explanation’ Minuted after the November 2024 Parish Council meeting had not been accepted by the External Auditor ( (see November 2024 Minutes, Minute  14 (a)- (d))....

  Several individuals have attempted to close this blog since it provides an often alternative view to that expressed by the Parish Council.  This has been played out at length in  Parish Council Minutes although as a private blog, it is no business of the Parish Council. A recent parish council governance document - the Social Media Policy - accepted despite queries about the validity of some of it intentions attempts to enable the Parish Council to regulate all social media ,not just its own.  This would appear to be a dangerous prerogative by a council since it seems to attempt to censor anything of which it would not approve. It also seems to confuse in a very dangerous way freedom of information with freedom from  information. Freedom from information is not the intention of the Freedom of Information Act although there are some who would try to interpret it in this very dangerous way, paving the slope downwards and backwards to a medieval oligarchy and ...

  Last week I tuned in to a Staffordshire County Council Meeting of Council. The formation of Super Councils was being discussed again (and after a ten year plus gap) and what the options being forwarded might be for Staffordshire. At the moment Staffordshire is a two tier authority - County and Borough Council, supposedly working seamlessly together. The leader of Newcastle Borough council left the meeting before is began. It was clear that Staffordshire County favoured the status quo - ie no change. The tension at the beginning of this meeting was palpable. Parish councils - the lowest tier of governance - but governance nonetheless - were not mentioned in the Government Report. Perhaps there was a justifiable reason for this. The options for change are: to join with Stoke-on-Trent, to join with Staffordshire Moorlands and one or two others such as Telford and the Wrekin in order to make up the required numbers to become a super council. However, and hopefully, it might tak...