Detailed instructions and guidance for all smaller authorities
- Detailed instructions for 2024/25
- A decision tree – to assist in identifying which AGAR form should be completed
- SAAA Flowchart for all authorities except parish meetings
- SAAA Step-by-step-guide for all authorities except parish meetings
- SAAA Flowchart for parish meetings
- SAAA Step-by-step-guide for parish meetings
- Examples of common issues with submitted documents
- PWLB borrowings at 31 March
- Contact details form
- Address labels – please note though that all documents can be scanned and emailed to us (Please do not post copies to us if they have been submitted by email)
- Bank reconciliation (in support of Section 2, Box 8) pro forma
- Notification of the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights pro forma
- Explanation of any significant variances year on year in Section 2 pro forma
- A reconciliation between Section 2, Boxes 7 and 8 pro forma (where the smaller authority has been chosen to prepare Section 2 on an income and expenditure basis rather than a cash basis only)
Publication requirements for all smaller authorities
Electors and interested individuals have a right to review certain documents. Guidance for advertising the exercise of public rights in relation to the financial documents is provided below:
- Public rights Notice for exempt authorities
- Public rights Notice for exempt parish meetings
- Public rights Notice for smaller authorities subject to a review
- Public rights Notice for parish meetings subject to a review
The Practitioners’ Guide
Links to the relevant Practitioners’ Guides are provided below as published by the Smaller Authorities Proper Practices Panel (SAPPP) formerly Joint Panel on Accounting & Governance (JPAG). Please note that sections 1 & 2 constitute ‘Proper Practices’ that smaller authorities must follow.
- Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance Practitioners’ Guide (March 2024)
- Smaller Authorities Proper Practices Panel (SAPPP) Practitioners’ Guide (March 2025); this version is available for early adoption. Please note this version has not yet been published.
Laws, regulations and background information
- Local Government Act 1972
- Local Government Finance Act 1992
- Freedom of Information Act 2000
- Localism Act 2011
- The Parish Councils (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2012
- Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
- Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015
- Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015
- Smaller Authorities (Transparency Requirements) (England) Regulations 2015
- Transparency code for smaller authorities
- Data Protection Act 2018
- Scale of fees 2022/23 to 2026/27
- NAO Code of Audit Practice 2024
- Auditor Guidance Note 2 – Specified Procedures for Assurance Engagements at Smaller Authorities (AGN 02)
- Auditor Guidance Note 4 – Auditors’ Additional Powers and Duties (AGN 04)
- Auditor Guidance Note 7 – Auditor Reporting (AGN 07)
- The roles of the National Audit Office and local auditors in relation to local bodies and small authorities in England
- Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights
Useful websites
- National Audit Office – NAO
- National Association of Local Councils – NALC
- Society of Local Council Clerks – SLCC
- Association of Drainage Authorities – ADA
- Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Limited – SAAA
- ADA’s Guide to Good Governance
Challenging your smaller authority’s AGAR
- Guidance for potential objectors to a 2024/25 AGAR
- Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights – NAO Guidance
- Objection form template 2024/25
Tell us what you think
Please use this form to provide feedback following the completion of the 2024/25 reporting season.