THE PARISH clerk to Great Coates Village Council has resigned as a report into the organisation's finances was made public.
Kathy Peers' resignation was accepted at the extra-ordinary meeting of the council this week.
It was also revealed how the council was facing financial difficulties, highlighted in a report by internal auditor Alan Nesbitt, a partner of Forrester Boyd chartered accountants. It said:
No asset register had been seen.
No payroll information was made available other than copies of year end and HMRC submissions.
No financial accounts have been seen by the internal auditor.
Invoices are not filed in support of all payments made.
No cheque book stubs have been initialed by the cheque signatories.
The system to record village hall bookings is poorly operated with inadequate referencing of booking forms to cash book entries.
There were only 14 bankings throughout the year – council guidelines are to bank income once a week.
Mr Nesbitt told councillors Great Coates Village Council had "failed significantly to follow internal procedures".
In his report he said: "The council's financial regulations have not been followed during the year and there is very little evidence of any proper operation of a system of internal controls.
"Income records are particularly poor."
Mr Nesbitt said: "There are also entries in the cash book for which no corresponding invoices can be seen."
Cash book payments did not correspond to the amounts notified to HM Revenue and Customs, and entry evidence showed that some money overpaid to HMRC was paid back to the clerk personally, in the sum of £76.81.
The auditor said: "There is no evidence in the records made available that the clerk had any entitlement to this money."
He stressed: "The fact that internal controls have not been followed adequately does not mean the money has gone missing."
He added previous years' accounts "should not have been approved if they were anything like last year's".
He said: "I struggle to see how the previous year's were correct."
The report also highlighted how the mismanagement of the council's resiting of the village war memorial had resulted in financial failings. It has still not been reinstalled more than a year after being removed.
Mr Nesbitt recommended a series of action points, which were adopted unanimously by the council, which holds overall responsibility for the finances, but appoints a financial officer, in this case Mrs Peers, to oversee it.
Councillors also agreed to appoint Immingham Town Council clerk Dave Jackson as interim clerk and financial officer to the village council for two months.
Mr Jackson said: "These matters need to be resolved quickly. There is a desire they want to put it right."
Great Coates resident Danny Prest asked if there would be further investigation.
Chairman, Councillor Steve Souter-Smith said: "That is unknown. We will wait until all the relevant documents have been examined."
Mrs Peers told the Telegraph after the meeting: "It was with much regret that I resigned my position as the clerk, after serving the council for ten years. Over that decade there have been some excellent members of the parish council and the council has been lucky enough to have some outstanding chairmen, all of whom served the village with the very best of intentions.
"However, recently the council has become beset by internal disagreements and personal vendettas, some of which are against members of staff, both from within the council and from outside of it. These issues have been preventing the actual day-to-day work of the council from taking place."
Mrs Peers has said she will respond to the points raised in the report in full.
The chairman of Great Coates Village Council, Nicola Maasdam, resigned last month, citing "outrageous behaviour" from some villagers towards her and her family as the reason.
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