VAT, S137 & NALC Study Visit w/e 10 Feb

Important changes this week!  VAT – The rules for Town and Parish Councils relating to VAT are different from commercial organisations and whilst nearly all of you know that, every year someone gets it wrong!  I’m attaching further detail relating to sporting fees following the recent legal challenge.  The key thing to remember is that should you decide that you are going to charge for a any kind of service is to check if it is a Vatable item, if it is then you may be liable to register fully for VAT, the £85k entry level has no relevance for Town and Parish Councils.

We have now received the S137 value for 2023 -24,  £9. 97 is your magic figure. 

A last orders bell to capture your attention!  The NALC Study Visit 23 – which will take place at Newport Pagnell Town Council (practically your backyard!) on 27-28 June 2023.  The event will be cancelled on / by 27 March 2023 if there have been insufficient delegate bookings so please book now if you had been intending to leave booking onto the event until April or May!  The theme is devolved leisure services, there is a packed, planned programme and a very limited number of delegate spaces (12) for this event so do please have a read of the event web page here (https://www.nalc.gov.uk/our-events/study-tour-2023 ) and the news story here (https://www.nalc.gov.uk/news/entry/2271-nalc-study-tour-to-visit-newport-pagnell-town-council ).

I hope you had an opportunity to see our news item on Buckingham’s Holocaust Memorial Day.  Remember to let us know if your council has something of community interest to report, you can inspire others with your experience.

Having completed your budget and precept requests you’ll  now be ensuring you have your internal audit booked.  I urge you to take a look at the Internal Auditors Forum if you haven’t find anyone yet, and for those of you that are already practicing internal auditors, please register your details, pay your £15 registration details so that all our members can find you.  There are a number of useful templates for registered auditors as well as a supportive forum to help you navigate the unexpected!  Our first cohort of internal audit trainees completed their training this week and I hope to be seeing their names included soon.

You might also be planning events for later this year, in which case do consider our training on Planning Community Events, March 9^th .  Please also see link below from LGA for useful information on how councils can support community events.

Have a brilliant weekend, the year is running away with us at full pelt so I hope you have a chance to recharge your batteries.  Look forward to speaking with you soon.

Kind regards

Mel, Helen and Lorraine