Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2025/26 Form 3 Local Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and other Smaller Authorities*

Page 2 of 6

*Governance and Accountability for Smaller Authorities in England – a Practitioners' Guide to Proper Practices, can be downloaded from www.nalc.gov.uk or from www.ada.org.uk

Completion checklist - 'No answers mean you may not have met requirements' Yes No

All sections Have all highlighted boxes have been completed? ✓

Has all additional information requested, including the dates set for the period for the exercise of public rights, been provided for the external auditor? ✓

Internal Audit Report Have all highlighted boxes been completed by the internal auditor and explanation provided? ✓

Section 1 For any statement to which the response is 'no', has an explanation been published? ✓

Section 2 Has the Responsible Financial Officer signed the accounting statements before presentation to the authority for approval? ✓

Has the authority's approval of the accounting statements been confirmed by the signature of the Chair of the approval meeting? ✓

Has an explanation of significant variations been published where required? ✓

Has the bank reconciliation as at 31 March 2026 been reconciled to Box 8? ✓

Has an explanation of any difference between Box 7 and Box 8 been provided? ✓

Sections 1 and 2 Trust funds - have all disclosures been made if the authority as a body corporate is a sole managing trustee? NB: do not send trust accounting statements unless requested.

The authority must publish on the authority website/webpage the information required by Regulation 15 (2), Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, including the period for the exercise of public rights and the name and address of the external auditor before 1 July 2026

The Responsible Financial Officer (RFO), on behalf of the authority, must set the commencement date for the exercise of public rights which must be a single period of 30 working days for inspection (this excludes weekends and public holidays) which must include the first 10 working days of July.

• Make sure that the accounting statements add up and that the balance carried forward from the previous year (Box 7 of 2025) equals the balance brought forward in the current year (Box 1 of 2026).
• Additional costs may be incurred if additional audit work is required.
• Explain fully significant variances in the accounting statements on page 5. Do not just send a copy of the detailed accounting records instead of this explanation. The external auditor wants to know that you understand the reasons for all variances. Include complete numerical and narrative analysis to support the full variance.

Make sure that the copy of the bank reconciliation to be sent to your external auditor with the AGAR covers all the bank accounts. If the authority holds any short-term investments, note their value on the bank reconciliation. The external auditor must be able to agree the bank reconciliation to Box 8 on the accounting statements (Section 2, page 5). An explanation must be provided of any difference between Box 7 and Box 8. More help on bank reconciliation is available in the Practitioners' Guide*.

You must inform your external auditor about any change of Clerk, Responsible Financial Officer or Chair, and provide relevant authority owned generic email addresses and telephone numbers.

The RFO is required to commence the public rights period which must be a single period of 30 working days for inspection (this excludes weekends and public holidays) which must include the first 10 working days of July.

the authority for approval. The authority must in this order; consider, approve and sign the accounts.