in. public notice in today’s Express and Echo, EDDC has announced that the annual period during which the public can inspect its accounts will be
1 July 2014 – 28 July 2014
between 08.30 and 5.00 pm Monday – Friday
This refers not only to accounts but also to other documents referred to in Section 15 of the Audit Commission Act 1998.
Requests for unaudited accounts should be made to Simon Davey (Head of Finance) at the usual council address or by email to: sdavey@eastdevon.gov.uk or telephone 01395 517490,
The unaudited accounts will be on the council website on 30 June 2014.
Notice is also given that Grant Thornton (the council’s auditing body) has been appointed.
Tuesday 29 July 2014 at 10.00 am as the date on or after which local government electors for the EDDC area (or any representative of such elector) may exercise their right under Sections 15 and 16 of the Act to question the auditor about or make objections to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2014.
Any objections to the accounts must relate to the matter in respect of which the auditor could take action under section 17 of the Act (namely, an unlawful item of account or failure to bring the amount into account) or to make a report in the public interest Section 8 of the Act.
No objection may be made by or on behalf of a local government elector unless the auditor has received written notice of the proposed objection and the grounds on which it is made. In addition an elector is required at the same time to send a copy of any notice of the objection to East Devon District Council.
The addresses of the auditor are:
B Morris, Appointed Auditor, Grant Thornton UK LLP, Hartwell House, 55-61 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6FT
EDDC:
Simon Davey, Head of Finance, EDDC, Council Offices, Knowle, Sidmouth, Devon EX10 8HL
A copy of the Audit Commission Act 1988 is here
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/18/contents
and a very useful FAQ about the workings of the Act is here:
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/
East Devon Watch 
I am wondering whether it would make sense to coordinate a detailed review of the accounts by multiple people (rather than have individuals having a more cursory look)?
I guess it will depend on what we might be looking for:
1. Do we think there is likely to be anything in the accounts which would be questionable from a legal perspective?
2. Do we think that the accounts can give us greater insight into what is actually happening inside EDDC (bearing in mind that the accounts are historical, concerns with EDDC tend to be more about what is going to happen in the future, and historical financial information is usually disclosed in FoI requests – if you know what to ask for that is)?
Never having looked at local authority accounts (indeed I was not previously aware of the opportunity to review them) I have no idea how they are presented, what level of detail is gone into etc.
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