Hiding the Cost of the Locum Clerk in the 23-24 Accounts Summary

Why is the £13,018 cost of employing the locum clerk in 23/24 not included in the Staff Costs total (Box 4 of Section 2 - Accounting Statements 2023/24)?

The Parish Council has had an exceptionally costly year in terms of its Parish Clerks, yet this summary, as currently presented, makes it look as though the Parish Council actually reduced its Clerking costs substantially, year-on-year.

In the accounts presented in Appendix A to the Agenda of the Council meeting of 16th May:

• Total Staffing Costs include the cost of the locum clerk in the Detailed Budget Summary, giving a total of £25,587. This is the proper figure that should be entered in Box 4, as it gives the truest picture of the costs of the various Parish Clerks over that financial year. This accounting choice is backed up by the two guidance publications mentioned in the report:
  • Section 2 of the Annual Return states that the figures were prepared based on information in ‘Governance and Accountability for Local Councils : a Practitioner's Guide’ . In paragraph 3.24 of the only version I could find on the Web — at https://internalauditforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2008-The_Guide-Governance.pdf — it states that:

    "Local councils should pay particular attention to situations where contractors are engaged to carry out the council's services. Councils should always be alert to the risk that occasions may arise when contractors cease to be self-employed and become employees for tax purposes. It is unlikely that the function of clerk to a local council in England can ever be self-employed."

    I interpret this as stating that contractors are either self-employed or employees. In the special case of the parish clerk being a contractor, they will always be regarded as an employee.

  • Confusingly, the signed accounts state that the figures were prepared based on information in a different publication, ‘Governance and Accountability for Local Councils : a Practitioner's Guide’. Yet in paragraph 5.157 of the 2024 edition — at https://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/our-work/jpag/4040-practitioners-guide-2024/file — it says the same thing about the special contractor case of the Parish Clerk:

    "Every authority that has any paid officers or staff is required to be registered as anemployer with HMRC. Parish Clerks in receipt of remuneration are always employees."

I believe this is an important issue, both for year-on-year comparisons and for posterity. The summary financial accounts should not obscure the fact that 23/24 was an exceptionally difficult year when they have the opportunity to make one consequence of the difficulty clear. The consequence is clear in the detailed accounts, but future analysts may well not bother to look at the details, as the current summary looks so ordinary.