North Tawton Town Council has been asked to respond to complaints made by a member of the public to the council's external auditor over its accounts.

A member of the public made six complaints to the council’s external auditor over the town council’s annual return of its finances for the year ending March 2024 – the 2023/24 AGAR (Annual Governance and Accountability Return).

This is a set of documents and financial statements that local councils are required to prepare and submit each year.

The auditor PFK has now asked the council for comments on three of the objections made by a member of the public.

The criticism, which includes allegations of mistakes in the accounts, was discussed behind closed doors by North Tawton Town Council at their meeting on Wednesday, April 9.

The council placed the item in the ‘part two’ section of the meeting, which is where confidential matters are placed.

North Tawton resident and former town councillor Christian Martin, a vocal critic of the council, has called on the council to lift its ‘veil of secrecy’ and discuss their response in public.

He said: “The decision courts suspicion and causes concern especially when coming off the back of the controversial silencing of residents by removing their engagement and questions through the removal of the public period.

“No sensitive or personal information is being discussed or disclosed, no contractual arrangements (that are not already in the public domain). The question being asked by residents is why the veil of secrecy?”

The town council has published the full copy of the objector’s objections to the council on its website, with the objector’s name redacted.

“The council are meeting to agree a response to the objections and this will published when finalised,” said a council spokesperson.

The allegations which the auditor says require a response from the council are Objections 1b, Objections 2a and e and Objection 3.

These are: (Objection 1b) that the clerk’s salary was shown in the 2023/24 AGAR (Annual Governance and Accountability Return) as a gross figure, not a net one, and that various budget deductions for national insurance and income tax were wrongly calculated in the accounts as a result.

Also (Objections 2a and e) that the council’s standing orders and financial regulations were not ensuring proper scrutiny of the accounts by other councilloors, and that the clerk had exceeded their delegated expenditure limit in authorising a payment for car park lighting.

The auditor also wants the council to comment on Objection 3, an allegation that the council had failed to comply with the Equality Act 2010 in not providing a venue for the Diversity and Inclusion Coffee Morning held in the town in the spring of 2024.

The council now has to respond to the auditor. These will then be considered and objections submitted.