Access Peterborough City Council Accounts - if you are quick

This chap guards the City of London, who guards the City of Peterborough?

Bookmark this link: http://heatherbrooke.org/2011/access-your-council-accounts/

Access Peterborogh City Council Accounts before August 10th!


For 20 days in June, July or August, every council is legally required to open up its draft accounts for public inspection. July 14th to August 10th are the dates for Peterborough City Council, so you still have a few days left.

 Under the Audit Commission Act 1988 you have a legal right to see detailed contracts, invoices, receipts, books and bills, the right to make copies and the right to raise other points of interest with the auditor. This is one of the most powerful rights citizens in the UK have to uncover the nitty gritty details of how public bodies are spending public money.

Chances are if you turn up to your council offices you may be the first one to do so in years. But don’t be put off. You have every right to be there and too few citizens make the effort to hold local councils accountable for the money they spend in the public’s name.

Certainly as local newspapers disappear it could be that the local nosey parker is all that stands in the way of a corruption scandal continuing undetected for years. Also don't be put off if the Council Officer says you must in advace specify which section of the accounts you wish to inspect. Ask to see the whole lot, or ask them to point you to the legal (authority) requirement that says your access is limited to any particular section...

From March 2011, it is a legal requirement for English councils to advertise the public inspection details on their websites. About a third of councils did so in previous years.



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