Community Reassurance Update from Shropshire Council

Easing the lockdown in England

From July 4th

Two metre social distancing replaced with ‘1 metre plus’
Indoor gatherings of two households allowed, with social distancing
Places of worship, libraries, pubs, restaurants, cafes, cinemas, museums, galleries, bingo halls, hair salons & barbers can re-open
Outdoor gyms can re-open but indoor gyms remain closed
Hotels, B&Bs, holiday homes, campsites & caravan parks can re-open if Covid-secure
Theatres and concert halls can re-open but cannot stage live performances

From July 6th people who are shielded can:

Meet up to six other people outside, with social distancing
Create a ‘support bubble’ with one other household

From August 1st Shielding to come to an end. People who have been affected can visit shops, travel, and return to Covid-secure workplaces

As these dates approach quickly, here’s a quick reminder of some of the options that the council and its partners have in place to support your work. Talk to us at any time about how we can best help you support local people.

Covid-19 Helpline and on-line information

For non-medical support and enquires call direct Covid-19 Helpline 0345 6789028 or email customerfirst@shropshire.gov.uk. On the Shropshire Council website, there is a wide range of information available to help you support people. Find the full range of information here: https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/information-for-the-public/. This includes the three directories on: food provision, community support and community social networks. Please check that your support group’s details are correctly recorded on the relevant directories. Please email me as soon as possible if you would like changes to be made.

Test and Trace – outbreak update

You may have seen information in the press relating to Covid cases at the ABP plant in the north of Shropshire – https://newsroom.shropshire.gov.uk/2020/06/coronavirus-apb-food/

I want to assure you that the cases referred to in the north of Shropshire are mainly historical, meaning that they have happened since the start of the pandemic, and are not active cases. Shropshire Council are working closely with Public Health England and current close contacts will be notified through track and trace programme, to ensure that all measures to stop the community spread of Covid 19 are in place. We ask people to continue to adhere to government guidance on social distancing and hand hygiene. Please see the poster attached which has been developed to promote these key messages. Please let me know if you have any comments on this resource and if you require it in any adapted formats e.g. easy read or other languages.

Getting involved with Shropshire’s Social Prescribing Service

Social Prescribing is a non-medical programme that supports people to improve their health and wellbeing with community support.

A Social Prescribing Advisor helps clients to understand their health and wellbeing needs and supports them in setting realistic goals and developing an action plan to achieve these. They enable people to access support and services in their own community by signposting or direct referral to local groups and activities, they are then able to monitor progress.

Social Prescribing is for people aged 18 years and over and is for anyone who would benefit from additional support to help and motivate them to take action to improve their health and wellbeing. People it can support, maybe:

Feeling worried or anxious
Feeling lonely or socially isolated
Living with a long-term condition
Wanting to make changes to their lifestyle
Caring for someone

At the moment, we are also keen to support people who would benefit from regular and on-going support to cope with their stress, concerns or anxieties caused by social isolation and Covid-19 or who may require more time and support from a Social Prescribing Advisor to work out how their practical needs will be met during social distancing.

Social Prescribing is a priority work programme for Shropshire and nationally a key component of Universal Personalised Care and the NHS Long Term Plan.

Your organisation or group can get involved too

Become listed in a Local Directory used by the Social Prescribing Advisors so they can signpost clients to your group and activities. This Directory is hosted by Qube and available on their website, so it is accessible to all.

Sign-up to become a Social Prescribing intervention, that Social Prescribing clients can be referred to. This involves providing details of your activities and completing a Quality Assurance checklist and working more closely with us.

Join one of the Community Connector networks across the county to network and share with other groups and organisations.

Information and support on getting involved in Social Prescribing is available from members of the Social Prescribing team. Please get in touch with Tracy Donovan (Tel 01743 254403 tracy.donovan@shropshire.gov.uk ) who will link you to the appropriate member of the team for your area.

Shropshire Libraries offer so much for old and young

Shropshire Libraries Youtube Channel – for Empathy Day Storytimes for children, Books Aloud, Memory Corner (for those living with Dementia)

Shropshire Summer Reads Escape into a good read with Shropshire Libraries this summer and support Shropshire’s fabulous indie bookshops at the same time! Simply sign up here and read and rate 4 books of your choice. Until libraries reopen, you can choose from our e-library or feel free to make your own choices

Shropshire Libraries – Silly Squad Summer Reading Challenge 2020 (ages 4-11 yrs) The Summer Reading Challenge for youngsters is moving online this year!
To sign up, children should go to summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/. They will need the email address and permission of a parent or carer to sign up. They then set their own reading goal and get reading! (including e-audio, graphic novels and non-fiction). Activities and rewards are unlocked each time a book is finished. Once a child reaches their reading goal they can download and print a certificate.

Keep an eye out for virtual library events and activities on our Youtube Channel or twitter feed @ShropLibraries such as lego clubs, craft sessions and online story times.

Arts Award with Shropshire Libraries For children aged 5-11. Get a qualification over the summer. Simply complete an online portfolio from home and earn a certificate from Trinity College London. We are excited to offer Arts Award at both Discover and Explore levels. For more information email us: artsaward@shropshire.gov.uk

What Summer activities for kids have you got planned this year?

Here’s a call out to local groups to let us know about summer activity for kids. Have you got plans for the children in your community? Let us know and we can help publicise.

Coronavirus diaries – from despair to pleasant surprise

And finally, I’d like to finish with a positive observation from Ric, one of our Community Reassurance Team (CRT). Ric is a theatre technician who was redeployed within the Council, as his area of work was closed as per Government regulations. He joined the CRT and has been working in his local community. His comment below is one small salute to the efforts of everyone in local communities throughout Shropshire. He said: “Working with the CRT has allowed me to move from a despairing start to the lockdown, through building a new set of skills to being pleasantly surprised by how resilient our communities are. I started the year flying a magic carpet and dancing in an elephant costume, and yesterday completed a course in psychological first aid – adapt and survive, keep bouncing forward!”

If you want to find more information about staying positive and resilient, visit our website – https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/information-for-the-public/

Inspection of Unaudited Accounts

NOTICE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS AND PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN (EXEMPT AUTHORITY)
ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 25, 26 and 27
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)
The Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/404)

A copy of the Annual Governance and Return, along with the Internal Auditors Report, can be found on the Finance and Accounts page.

The statement of accounts will not be audited on account of that authority’s self-certified status as exempt, unless either a request for an opportunity to question the auditor about the authority’s accounting records under section 26(2) or an objection under section 27(1) of the Act, results in the involvement of the local auditor.

NOTICE

1. Date of announcement Friday 10th July (a)

2. Each year the smaller authority prepares an Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). The AGAR has been published with this notice. It will not be reviewed by the appointed auditor, since the smaller authority has certified itself as exempt from the appointed auditor’s review. Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the AGAR, the accounting records for the financial year to which it relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records must be made available for inspection by any person interested. For the year ended 31 March 2020, these documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to:

(b) Amy Jones, Parish Clerk, Hawthorn Cottage, Porthywaen, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 8LX
E: llanyblodwelpc@gmail.com

commencing on (c) Monday 13 July 2020

and ending on (d) Friday 21 August 2020

3. Local government electors and their representatives also have:

• The opportunity to question the appointed auditor about the accounting records; and
• The right to make an objection which concerns a matter in respect of which the appointed auditor could either make a public interest report or apply to the court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the smaller authority.

The appointed auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose between the above dates only.

4. The smaller authority’s AGAR is only subject to review by the appointed auditor if questions or objections raised under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 lead to the involvement of the auditor. The appointed auditor is:

PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team)
15 Westferry Circus
Canary Wharf
London E14 4HD
(sba@pkf-littlejohn.com)

5. This announcement is made by (e) Amy Jones – Parish Clerk

LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTS: A SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHTS

Please note that this summary applies to all relevant smaller authorities, including local councils, internal drainage boards and ‘other’ smaller authorities.

The basic position

The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the Act) governs the work of auditors appointed to smaller authorities. This summary explains the provisions contained in Sections 26 and 27 of the Act. The Act, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 also cover the duties, responsibilities and rights of smaller authorities, other organisations and the public concerning the accounts being audited.
As a local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in respect of the accounting records of smaller authorities. As an interested person you can inspect accounting records and related documents. If you are a local government elector for the area to which the accounts relate you can also ask questions about the accounts and object to them. You do not have to pay directly for exercising your rights. However, any resulting costs incurred by the smaller authority form part of its running costs. Therefore, indirectly, local residents pay for the cost of you exercising your rights through their council tax.
The right to inspect the accounting records

Any interested person can inspect the accounting records, which includes but is not limited to local electors. You can inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records. You can copy all, or part, of these records or documents. Your inspection must be about the accounts, or relate to an item in the accounts. You cannot, for example, inspect or copy documents unrelated to the accounts, or that include personal information (Section 26 (6) – (10) of the Act explains what is meant by personal information). You cannot inspect information which is protected by commercial confidentiality. This is information which would prejudice commercial confidentiality if it was released to the public and there is not, set against this, a very strong reason in the public interest why it should nevertheless be disclosed.

When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them, they must publish them (including on a website). There must be a 30 working day period, called the ‘period for the exercise of public rights’, during which you can exercise your statutory right to inspect the accounting records. Smaller authorities must tell the public, including advertising this on their website, that the accounting records and related documents are available to inspect. By arrangement you will then have 30 working days to inspect and make copies of the accounting records. You may have to pay a copying charge. Legislative changes have been made as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus for the 2019/20 reporting year which mean that there is no requirement for a common period for public rights. The period for the exercise of public rights must however commence on or before 1 September 2020. The advertisement must set out the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights, how you can communicate to the smaller authority that you wish to inspect the accounting records and related documents, the name and address of the auditor, and the relevant legislation that governs the inspection of accounts and objections.

The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounting records

You should first ask your smaller authority about the accounting records, since they hold all the details. If you are a local elector, your right to ask questions of the external auditor is enshrined in law. However, while the auditor will answer your questions where possible, they are not always obliged to do so. For example, the question might be better answered by another organisation, require investigation beyond the auditor’s remit, or involve disproportionate cost (which is borne by the local taxpayer). Give your smaller authority the opportunity first to explain anything in the accounting records that you are unsure about. If you are not satisfied with their explanation, you can question the external auditor about the accounting records.
The law limits the time available for you formally to ask questions. This must be done in the period for the exercise of public rights, so let the external auditor know your concern as soon as possible. The advertisement or notice that tells you the accounting records are available to inspect will also give the period for the exercise of public rights during which you may ask the auditor questions, which here means formally asking questions under the Act. You can ask someone to represent you when asking the external auditor questions.
Before you ask the external auditor any questions, inspect the accounting records fully, so you know what they contain. Please remember that you cannot formally ask questions, under the Act, after the end of the period for the exercise of public rights. You may ask your smaller authority other questions about their accounts for any year, at any time. But these are not questions under the Act.
You can ask the external auditor questions about an item in the accounting records for the financial year being audited. However, your right to ask the external auditor questions is limited. The external auditor can only answer ‘what’ questions, not ‘why’ questions. The external auditor cannot answer questions about policies, finances, procedures or anything else unless it is directly relevant to an item in the accounting records. Remember that your questions must always be about facts, not opinions. To avoid misunderstanding, we recommend that you always put your questions in writing.

The right to make objections at audit

You have inspected the accounting records and asked your questions of the smaller authority. Now you may wish to object to the accounts on the basis that an item in them is in your view unlawful or there are matters of wider concern arising from the smaller authority’s finances. A local government elector can ask the external auditor to apply to the High Court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, or to issue a report on matters which are in the public interest. You must tell the external auditor which specific item in the accounts you object to and why you think the item is unlawful, or why you think that a public interest report should be made about it. You must provide the external auditor with the evidence you have to support your objection. Disagreeing with income or spending does not make it unlawful. To object to the accounts you must write to the external auditor stating you want to make an objection, including the information and evidence below and you must send a copy to the smaller authority. The notice must include:

• confirmation that you are an elector in the smaller authority’s area;
• why you are objecting to the accounts and the facts on which you rely;
• details of any item in the accounts that you think is unlawful; and
• details of any matter about which you think the external auditor should make a public interest report.

Other than it must be in writing, there is no set format for objecting. You can only ask the external auditor to act within the powers available under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

A final word

You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your smaller authority. You should take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or to your solicitor. Smaller authorities, and so local taxpayers, meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. In deciding whether to take your objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved, they will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. They may also decide not to consider an objection if they think that it is frivolous or vexatious, or if it repeats an objection already considered. If you appeal to the courts against an auditor’s decision not to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, you will have to pay for the action yourself.

For more detailed guidance on public rights and the special powers of auditors, copies of the publication Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights are available from the NAO website.
If you wish to contact your authority’s appointed external auditor please write to the address in paragraph 4 of the Notice of Public Rights and Publication of Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return.