Notice of Conclusion of Audit 2018/19 Accounts

In accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, the Council is required to publish a n notice informing electors that the final audited accounts for the year 2018/19 have been published and how they can be inspected if required by the public.

The Notice of Conclusion of Audit can be accessed HERE

The Annual Governance & Accounting Statement can be accessed HERE

Period for the Exercise of Public Rights Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2019

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014

Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)

 

Stanley Town Council’s Annual Return needs to be reviewed by an external auditor appointed by Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd. Any person interested has the right to inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts and other documents relating to those records or documents.

 

These documents for Stanley Town Council are to be made available on reasonable notice by application between the hours of 9.30am and 4.00pm on Mondays to Fridays (excluding public holidays) commencing on Wednesday 12 June 2019 and ending on Tuesday 23 July 2019.

If you wish to view them then please contact Stanley Town Council’s representative:

Mr A Shaw, Town Clerk

Civic Hall

Front St, Stanley

Co Durham, DL9 0NA

Tel: (01207) 299109

Local Electors and their representatives have rights to question the auditor about the accounts and object to the accounts or any item in them. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the Town Council.   The auditor can be contacted at the address below for this purpose during the inspection period which commences on 12 June 2019 and ends on 23 July 2019

The Council’s annual return is subject to review by the appointed auditor under the provisions of the local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the NAO’s Code of Audit Practice.

The appointed auditor of Stanley Town Council is: Mazars, Salvus house, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS Tel: (0191)  383 6348

This announcement is made by Alan Shaw, Town Clerk 10th June 2019

Copy of Annual return is linked below:

Governance & Accounting Statements 2018/19

Annual Council Meeting 28th May 2019 – Papers Uploaded

The Annual Meeting of Council will be held next Tuesday, 28th May 2019, at 6.30 pm in the Civic Hall.

The Annual Meeting will see a new Town Mayor elected and will perform important functions in reviewing the Council’s governance documents, determining Committee membership and approving the Council’s annual accounts.

‘AGM Agenda 2019

AGM 2019 Reports

Prior to the AGM, at 6pm there will be a meeting of the Planning Committee to enable the Council to take a view on a proposed development of 260 dwellings between Beamish Rise and No Place.

Planning Agenda 28-05-19

Stanley Community Fund Open for applications

The Town Council took the decision to use its grant funding budget to establish a community fund in partnership with other local funders 1n 2019. The partners include the Stanley Area Action Partnership, Police & Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg and local MP Kevan Jones. 

Applications for funding from the Stanley Community Fund can be between £2,000 and £10,000. A total of £120,000 in funding will be awarded in 2019/20.

Applications will be assessed in a rolling 3 month application window, with the first awards due to be made in June 2019.

The fund is open for applications NOW. For more information and to apply, please visit the County Durham Community Foundation’s webpage HERE

The Town Council’s own Strategic Fund is also open for applications for small grants of between £250 – £2000. Find out how to apply on our grants page

Stanley Strategic Fund open for Applications!

The Town Council’s new strategic grants fund has been established to provide small cash grants to local community groups, sports clubs and organisations to help them cover their running costs or deliver specific projects. The first application window will open on the 1st April and is open to all relevant groups in the Stanley parish area. For full details and to get an application form, check our Grants page.

Annual Town Meeting – 22nd March 2019

The Annual Meeting of electors will take place next Friday, 22nd March 2019 at The Venue, Tyne Road, Stanley. There will be tea and coffee served from 6pm for a 6.30 pm start. The Council will be launching the new Stanley Community Fund at the meeting, which is a new source of grant funding to support local groups and organisations which will provide £100,000 of support for local community organisations in the year from April. The fund is a true partnership and will see every pound invested by the Town Council matched from contributions from other funders, including Kevan Jones MP who will be speaking at the launch. All local community groups who rely on grant funding or would like financial support should come to the meeting to get full details of how and where to apply for funding. The Council will also give an overview of the work it has done in the last year and our plans for next year.

Full Council Agenda Uploaded 26-2-19

Next week’s Full Council meeting will see the Council considering proposals for a new Community Funding strategy for the Town, discussing a new ‘Miner’s Sunday’ Event to be held on the August Bank Holiday weekend together with other mining heritage initiatives.  The meeting starts at 6.30pm on Tuesday 26th February 2019.

Agenda

Background Papers

All Town Council meetings are open to the public and the public are encouraged to attend.

Council Backs Budget to Build on Stanley’s Success

Council Budget set for 2019/20

A SERIES of investments, events and initiatives have been greenlit by Stanley Town Council after it agreed its annual budget tonight (22 January).

The Council backed the 2019/20 Budget and has brought forward an ambitious programme to help breathe new life into the town and surrounding villages.

Amongst projects approved are the popular summer “Play in the Park” events for children and parents during the summer holidays, the purchase and upkeep of two new police vehicles to support local policing teams and the town’s Christmas lights, not to mention Stanley’s spectacular annual fireworks extravaganza.

The Council is also developing a new approach to grant funding by creating a Stanley Fund, which will help to deliver more than double the current level of grant support to Stanley groups and organisations at no additional cost to residents by bringing in match funding from local businesses, local MP Kevan Jones and the Police and Crime Commisioner Ron Hogg.

Leader of Stanley Town Council, Cllr David Marshall, said that the new budget would help the town and outlying villages add to the progress made since the make-up of the authority changed in the 2017 local elections.

“Last year was the new council’s first opportunity to look at investment priorities for Stanley and ensure that every penny spent is aimed at making things better for the people of our area,” said Cllr Marshall.

“For too long the Council had not been addressing long-term needs, so we asked the people who voted for us to tell us what their priorities are and how their money should be spent. From that feedback, we created the Medium-Term Plan to help us focus our budget in areas of maximum need where our spending will have the most beneficial impact.

“There is no doubt, the Government’s harsh and unrelenting austerity measures continue to be felt across County Durham and the wider region, but Stanley Town Council will continue to fund projects that improve the lives of people in the Stanley area.”

The Council has been forced to increase its precept by 3% from the level set in the 2018/19 Budget.

“We don’t take lightly any rise in taxation, especially in these challenging times,” added Cllr Marshall, “however we are determined to support our communities in the most meaningful way we can.”

Last year, the Council’s funding enabled Stanley residents to benefit from a five day a week   face to face debt management and advice service provided by the Advice in County Durham partnership in what is seen as a model service in the County. The Council secured a new building for the Just for Women Centre, a multi award winning project supporting vulnerable women in the heart of our community.

The Council launched a new dedicated community wardens service to support commnuities and improve the environment, provided a detached youth service to engage with young people and continued to support PACT House, which has become a vital community resource since it began operating 3 years ago.

“As a Council, we have agreed that these services which are vital to our residents need to continue to be funded. But there is more work to be done”.

Now agreed, the Budget will allow the Council to roll-out of its new festive lighting programme to villages and outlying communities within the parish, as well as improve its heritage and events offer with the creation of a ‘Miner’s Sunday’ celebration and greater support for memorial events within the Town Council area and the new Beacon of Light in future years. The Council is also planning to bring community cinema back to the Town by re-commissioning the cinema capability of the Civic Hall.

Chair of the Finance Committee, Cllr Mark Davinson, said: “This Budget allows us to press ahead with our ambitions of making Stanley a better place to live, work and visit. There is fresh impetus running through this Town with the recent investment in our retail offer and the raft of environmental improvements the Town Council has been able to introduce, and long may that continue.

“However, we are not resting on our laurels. If we are asking for more from our residents, it is because we must deliver more. If there is something in your community that needs to be addressed, tell us. We will do all we can to make things better for the people of our parish.”

Full details of the budget are linked below:

2019/20 STC Budget (Approved)

2019/20 Budget Report

Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

The agenda and papers for next week’s Full Council meeting are linked below. It will be a busy meeting, featuring presentations and feedback from Stanley Events on the Fireworks Display, an update from the STC Funded Advice Partnership which provides 5 day a week, face to face advice in Stanley and from County Durham Community Foundation in relation to a proposal to set up a new community fund for Stanley. There will also be a review of the town’s Remembrance Sunday events, proposals for the Civic Hall, Funding of local theatre groups and other business discussed.

All of our meetings are open to the public and residents are welcome to attend and may ask questions relating to the business on the agenda. Please notify the Clerk in advance of the meeting if you wish to ask a question.

The meeting will be held at 6.30pm in the Civic Hall.

‘-Full Council Agenda 27th November 2018

FC November Combined Papers [8.8 MB, PDF]