Role of the Parish Council
Lanreath Parish Council meets monthly to manage the affairs of the parish. In fulfilling this role, the council:
- discharges its duties as a Parish Council under a wide range of statutory provisions,
- gives views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish,
- undertakes projects and schemes that benefit local residents,
- works in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish,
- alerts relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken,
- helps the other tiers of local government keep in touch with the local community, and
- raises money through grants, gifts and the local council tax 'precept' to pay for expenses incurred in executing the council's duties and for community projects.
Parish Council Documents
The Parish Council is committed to conducting its business and discharging its legal obligations in an open and transparent manner. The documents on the Parish Council pages of this website are published in order for the Parish Council to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by providing public access to information it holds as public authority.
In addition to regulatory requirements, the operation of the Council is governed and advised by a number of Policies and Procedures that are reviewed annually at the Parish Council Annual Meeting.
In order to assess the risks facing the Council and to ensure that the appropriate steps are taken to manage those risks, the Council maintains a register of risks in a Risk Assessment. The Risk Assessment is reviewed annually and updated as required.
The latest versions of these documents may be downloaded from the Policies page on this website.
What we spend and how we spend it
The activities of the Council are principally funded through the precept. The precept is that portion of the council tax that Cornwall Council collects on behalf of the Council. The precept for the following Financial Year is calculated annually in November as part of the Council's budget and it fills the gap between the Council's planned expenditure and its estimated income. The budget for the next Financial Year, for the current Financial Year, and for previous years may be downloaded below from the Accounts and Financial Information page on this website.
The Council is responsible in law for ensuring that its financial management is adequate and effective. The Council's Financial Regulations govern the conduct of financial management of the council and are intended to ensure that the Council has a sound system of financial control which facilitates the effective exercise of the council's functions, including arrangements for the management of risk and for the prevention and detection of fraud and corruption. The Financial Regulations may only be amended or varied by resolution of the Council. The Financial Regulations may be downloaded from the Policies page on this website.
The Council is required to maintain adequate financial reserves to meet the needs of the organisation. The Council's Reserves policy may be downloaded from the Policies page on this website.
Governance and Accountability
As a 'Smaller Authority' the Council is exempt from the requirement to submit a completed Annual Governance and Accountability Return to an external auditor for a limited assurance review. The Council is required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations to publish various documents on a public website. The Council is also required to give notice of the period for the exercise of public rights to inspect the accounting records of the last financial year. The notice and the documents for the current financial year and the previous years may be downloaded from the Accounts and Financial Information page on this website.