About Wrinehill

  Staffordshire County Council held its Endowment Charities Meeting to discuss the Annual Accounts for 2024/2025 last week.    Staffordshire County Council acts as a custodian trustee for 13 educational endowment charities.   Part of its responsibilities is to oversee both the administrative and investment aspects of these charities.   One of the key duties includes approving the annual accounts before they are submitted to the Charities Commission.   The allocation of income is delegated to the managing trustees of the respective schools, with County Council Officers ensuring that expenditure is in accordance with the Trustees’ intentions.   In scrutinising the accounts it was noted that three of the charities generated an annual income exceeding £25,000.   Income via interest from the funds invested were noted, and that paid from the COIF Investment Fund amounted to approximately £53,000 annually.   However, expenditure, the Report ...

    The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has been working on improving standards and accounting practices of local councils, particularly parish and small councils. The 2024/25 review shows that 97% of local authorities submitted their Annual Governance and Accountability Returns (AGARs) by the end of September. Whilst two-thirds of councils (67%) received clean, unqualified audit opinions.  However, this also means, that 33% did not – ie one third of all councils.   And although councils might have submitted their returns on time, this does not mean to say that their record was accurate or completely open and transparent.   Thus the study would appear to focus primarily on completion rates rather than on the depth or effectiveness of audit scrutiny. The Report also stated that Auditors also maintained high levels of performance, completing 94% of reviews by the statutory deadline, rising to 96% by year-end.   However, this might be to pla...