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Our local, rural parish council has recently been found to have been using double-signed blank cheques which obviously completely bypasses the security and verification requirements supported by the required double-signatory process. What's more is that they are totally unapologetic about this practice which appears to have been used for many years - simply for convenience. They have been repeatedly reported to our local district monitoring officer for a variety of governance and financial non-compliance issues but they appear to be under the impression that the rules they are required to comply with don't apply to them.
It would be useful to know of any laws which may have been broken by councillors who have been responsible for signing blank cheques on the parish council bank account as this information might act as a powerful incentive to make them adhere to required standards. It has been suggested that a councillor who signs a blank cheque like this is actually guilty of 'misconduct in public office'. Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
It would be useful to know of any laws which may have been broken by councillors who have been responsible for signing blank cheques on the parish council bank account as this information might act as a powerful incentive to make them adhere to required standards. It has been suggested that a councillor who signs a blank cheque like this is actually guilty of 'misconduct in public office'. Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
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