The government has published ‘The Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency’ which effectively recommends parish councils which have a gross annual income or expenditure (whichever is the higher) of a least £200,000 to publish ‘Public Data’.
The Government has implemented this Code of Practice for local authorities to provide greater transparency of public bodies, which is at the heart of their mandate to enable greater democratic accountability over how council tax and public money is spent. However, Public Data does not include personal information as this would contravene the Data Protection Act 2018.
In accordance with the Code of Recommended Practice and general good practice, Faringdon Town Council makes the following information available:
Expenditure exceeding £500
Local authorities must publish details of each item of expenditure that exceeds £500, at least quarterly. Faringdon Town Council publishes all payments monthly. These are available in the financial section of our website:
Government Procurement Card Transactions
Local authorities must publish details of every transaction on a Government Procurement Card. This must be published quarterly.
The Town Council does not use a government procurement card as defined by the code.
Procurement Information
Publish details of every invitation to tender for contracts to provide goods and/or services with a value that exceeds £5,000. Publish details of any contract, commissioned activity, purchase order, framework agreement and any other legally enforceable agreement with a value that exceeds £5,000. This must be published quarterly.
Details of any contracts can be found under the Contracts heading in the Finance section of our website.
Local Authority Land
Local authorities must publish details of all land and building assets. This must be published annually.
The details of our land and building assets can be found below:
Social Housing Asset Value
Local authorities must publish details on the value of social housing assets within local authorities Housing Revenue Account. This must be published annually.
The Town Council does not hold any Social Housing Assets.
Grants to Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Organisations
Publish details of all grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. Details of grants awarded and policies can be found on the grants section of our website. Links below
Organisation Chart
Publish an organisation chart covering staff in the top three levels of the organisation. This must be published annually.
The Town Council currently employees 14 members of staff. Our full staff structure can be viewed below:
Trade Union Facility Time
This must be published annually.
The Town Council does not have any Trade Union representatives.
Parking Account
Local authorities must publish on their website, or place a link on their website to this data if published elsewhere: a breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account, and a breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account. This must be published annually.
The Town Council does not have a parking account
Parking Spaces
Local authorities must publish the number of marked out controlled on and off-street parking spaces within their area, or an estimate of the number of spaces where controlled parking space is not marked out in individual parking bays or spaces. This must be published annually. The Town Council does not have any parking spaces.
Senior Salaries
The Town Council is required to publish details of any senior employees (including job descriptions, responsibilities, budgets, and number of staff) earning over £50,000 per annum. This must be published annually.
One member of staff, the Town Clerk earns over £50,000. The Town Clerk is responsible for all staff and is Responsible Financial Officer responsible for all Town Council budgets and finance.
Constitution
Local authorities must publish their Constitution on their website. This must be published annually. All the Town Council policies and procedures, including standing orders and financial regs are available in the important documents section.
Pay Multiple
Publish the pay multiple on their website defined as the ratio between the highest taxable earnings for the given year (including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits-in-kind) and the median earnings figure of the whole of the authority’s workforce (available soon). This must be published annually.
Salary scales for roles are detailed below. The Council uses The National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay scales.
| Role | Scale |
| Town Clerk | LC3 above substantive plus increments for training |
| Deputy Clerk | LC2 |
| All other Staff | LC1 – LC2. Minimum SCP 6 |
The median salary at Faringdon Town Council is: £27,060.
Fraud
Local authorities must publish information about any counter fraud work.
The Town Council do not have any current fraud cases.
Waste Contracts
Local authorities must publish details of their existing waste collection contracts at the point they first publish quarterly contract information. This is a one-off publication. The Town Council are not responsible for the collection of waste. The responsible authority is Vale of White Horse District Council details here: https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-white-horse-district-council/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/