Roger Parry of Denbighshire County Council Head of Finance and Assets 2009-2010 accounts

The request was successful.

Dear Wales Audit Office / Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru,

It is my understanding that the late Roger Parry of Denbighshire County Council Head of Finance and Assets. With co-operation from your own Nicolas Raynor (external Auditor for Denbighshire County Council 2009-2010 Has closed the audit for such period. As this has come as some surprise to myself due to NOT! Giving permission to do so as I and a colleague had out standing question on both the handling of DCC accounts for that year. Plus the mysterious disappearance of money, bad accounting and general dubious tender process DCC operates.

I would like to ask a few questions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1) Did Welsh Conservative Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill in his capacity as Cabinet Lead Member for Finance and Efficiency. Sign off on such accounts?
2) Could I have a copy of the signed off/ratified accounts?

To avoid expense and for speed of reply. Email attachment and/or PDF documentation would be acceptable and preferred. Thank you.

Please let me know if my question needs clarifying to avoid further questions that might arise due to ambiguous answers. I'll be happy to resupply in a format that will let you either supply photocopy/PDF information (dependent on quantity) or supply information without the need to edit any answers you feel I have not asked. Or brief answers that could arise to second and third
questions.

Once again thank you for your help.

GARY ALEXANDER BOURNE,
14 LON EIRLYS,
PRESTATYN,
DENBIGHSHIRE,
CYMRU
LL19 9JZ

Ian Phillips,

Dear Mr Bourne

I am writing to acknowledge your request for information set out in your
email of 28 May 2011, which was for information related to the 2009-2010
accounts for Denbighshire County Council, namely:

1. Did Welsh Conservative Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill in his
capacity as Cabinet Lead Member for Finance and Efficiency. Sign off on
such accounts?

2. Could I have a copy of the signed off/ratified accounts?

I am considering your request in accordance with the procedures set out on
the Wales Audit Office website at:

[1]http://www.wao.gov.uk/whoweare/freedomof...

The procedures are intended to ensure that requests are dealt with in
accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, the Code of Practice set under section 45 of the 2000 Act and
other relevant legislation.

I shall write to you again once I am in a position to provide a
substantive response, though I may write to you before that should I
require any clarification of any aspect of your request.

As your request is for local government information, it may be that the
information is held by the appointed auditor of Denbighshire County
Council rather than being held by the Auditor General. While the auditors
of local government bodies are appointed by the Auditor General, they are
separate office holders with their own statutory functions. They are not
part of the Wales Audit Office, and they are not public authorities under
the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore you do not have a right of
access to information that they hold, and any disclosure would be
discretionary and subject to the restrictions on disclosure provided by
section 54 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004.

Please also note that we have a policy of publishing in a disclosure log
on the internet information that we provide in response to requests
(including explanations of why information is not held) where we consider
that this is in the public interest. We will not, however, publish
personal information if this would be unfair and so breach the first data
protection principle. In line with this, we will generally not disclose
the identity or other personal information of requesters. We will,
however, disclose the identity of requesters if this is in the public
interest and doing so would be fair, such as in the case of holders of
public office. If you have any concerns regarding inclusion of our
response to you in the disclosure log, please let me know.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Phillips

Compliance Specialist

Wales Audit Office

24 Cathedral Road

Cardiff

CF11 9LJ

Tel: 02920 320678

[2]www.wao.gov.uk

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Mae'r ebost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn breifat. Os nad atoch chi y
bwriadwyd anfon yr ebost hwn dylech ddinistrio pob copi a hysbysu'r
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Mae'r neges hon wedi cael ei harchwilio am firysau gan Messagelabs.

I gael gwybodaeth bellach am Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru a manylion am ffyrdd
eraill o gysylltu a ni, ewch i'n gwefan.

References

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http://www.wao.gov.uk/whoweare/freedomof...
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Ian Phillips,

Dear Mr Bourne

Further to my email of 31 May 2011, I am now in a position to respond to
your request for information set out in your email of 28 May 2011, which
was for information related to the 2009-2010 accounts for Denbighshire
County Council, namely:

1. Did Welsh Conservative Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill in his
capacity as Cabinet Lead Member for Finance and Efficiency... [sign
off]... such accounts?

2. Could I have a copy of the signed off/ratified accounts?

With regard to question 1, we do not hold any recorded information as to
whether Mr Thompson-Hill signed off the accounts.

With regard to question 2, the appointed auditor has informed me that he
has not yet provided a certificate on the 2009/2010 accounts, as he cannot
formally conclude the audit and issue the certificate until the public's
rights in relation to the audit are completed.

The 2009/2010 accounts have been published on Denbighshire County
Council's website with an interim opinion from the appointed auditor:
[1]http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/www/cms/l...

The published accounts have been certified by Roger Parry, and
confirmation that they have been approved is provided by the Chair of the
Corporate Governance Committee, Councillor John Bellis.

I have not applied any exemptions, however if you wish to complain about
my handling of your request, please email or write to me.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Ian Phillips

Compliance Specialist

Wales Audit Office

24 Cathedral Road

Cardiff

CF11 9LJ

Tel: 02920 320678

[2]www.wao.gov.uk

This email and any attached files is private. If you are not the intended
recipient please destroy all copies and inform the sender by return
e-mail.

This message has been scanned for viruses by Messagelabs.

For further information on the Wales Audit Office and details of other
ways to contact us please visit our website at www.wao.gov.uk.

Mae'r ebost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn breifat. Os nad atoch chi y
bwriadwyd anfon yr ebost hwn dylech ddinistrio pob copi a hysbysu'r
anfonwr drwy anfon ebost yn ol atynt.

Mae'r neges hon wedi cael ei harchwilio am firysau gan Messagelabs.

I gael gwybodaeth bellach am Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru a manylion am ffyrdd
eraill o gysylltu a ni, ewch i'n gwefan.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/www/cms/l...
2. http://www.wao.gov.uk/