V. E. FALCONER
To Whicham Parish Council
Waterblean Farm
The Hill
Millom
LA18 5HA
18th April 2026
I confirm that I have carried out the internal audit of Whicham Parish Council Accounts for the year ending 31st March 2026. I was provided with all the documents required and I have reconciled the accounts to the bank statements and they balance.
I have checked the Whicham Parish Council website and all the necessary documents are displayed as required.
I asked the Clerk about the credit of £11.21 from Stripe on 24th February 2026 for which there is no email confirmation. The Clerk explained that it was a result of 3 test transactions totaling £11.21 that had been made by Whamos to check that the new Stripe account was working and for which Whamos had invoiced the Parish Council on 24th February 2025.
I remind councillors that as mandatory, monthly payment summaries and cheque stubs should be initialed by 2 signatories. I noticed that this has not been happening in a number of cases.
Valerie Falconer
Internal Auditor
(signed) V. E. FALCONER
WHICHAM PARISH COUNCIL
During the financial year ended 31 March 2026, this authority’s internal auditor acting independently and on the basis of an assessment of risk, carried out a selective assessment of compliance with the relevant procedures and controls in operation and obtained appropriate evidence from this authority.
The internal audit for 2025/26 has been carried out in accordance with this authority’s needs and planned coverage. On the basis of the findings in the areas examined, the internal audit conclusions are summarised in this table. Set out below are the objectives of internal control and alongside are the internal audit conclusions on whether, in all significant respects, the control objectives were being achieved throughout the financial year to a standard adequate to meet the needs of this authority.
| Internal control objective | Result |
|---|---|
| A. Appropriate accounting records have been properly kept throughout the financial year. | ✓ |
| B. This authority complied with its financial regulations, payments were supported by invoices, all expenditure was approved, and VAT was appropriately accounted for. | ✓ |
| C. This authority assessed the significant risks to achieving its objectives and reviewed the adequacy of arrangements to manage these. | ✓ |
| D. The precept or rates requirement resulted from an adequate budgetary process; progress against the budget was regularly monitored; and reserves were appropriate. | ✓ |
| E. Expected income was fully received, based on correct prices, properly recorded, and promptly banked; and VAT was appropriately accounted for. | ✓ |
| F. Petty cash payments were properly supported by receipts, all petty cash expenditure was approved and VAT appropriately accounted for. | ✓ |
| G. Salaries to employees and allowances to members were paid in accordance with this authority’s approvals, and PAYE and NI requirements were properly applied. | ✓ |
| H. Asset and investment registers were complete and accurate and properly maintained. | ✓ |
| I. Periodic and year-end bank account reconciliations were properly carried out. | ✓ |
| J. Accounting statements prepared during the year were prepared on the correct accounting basis (receipts and payments or income and expenditure), agreed to the cash book, supported by an adequate audit trail from underlying records and where appropriate debtors and creditors were properly recorded. | ✓ |
| K. If the authority certified itself as exempt from a limited assurance review in 2024/25, it met the exemption criteria and correctly declared itself exempt. (If the authority had a limited assurance review of its 2024/25 AGAR tick “not covered”) | ✓ |
| L. The authority has demonstrated that during summer 2025 it correctly provided for the exercise of public rights as required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations. | ✓ |
| M. (For local councils only) Trust funds (including charitable) – The council met its responsibilities as a trustee. | N/A |
Date(s) internal audit undertaken 03/05/2026
(signed) V. E. FALCONER
Name of person who carried out the internal audit
Valerie Falconer
Date 15/06/2026