Parish Council Asset Register: What AGAR Assertion 6 Requires and How to Maintain It

Many parish councils have an asset register in some form — a spreadsheet or a page in the council's files listing buildings, land, equipment, and vehicles. Fewer councils have an asset register that actually meets the audit and accounting requirements. The gap creates audit risk: AGAR Assertion 6 requires the council to confirm that "this authority maintains an up to date asset register," and internal auditors check whether that claim can be evidenced.

The statutory basis

The requirement to keep a record of assets sits in Regulation 4(3)(b) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, which requires accounting records to include "a record of the assets and liabilities of the authority." The responsible financial officer (typically the clerk in a small parish council) is responsible for ensuring this record is kept.

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 do not prescribe the format of the asset register — that is governed by "proper practices in relation to accounts" as set out in the CIPFA Local Authority Accounting Code and, for smaller parish councils, the Practitioners' Guide issued by JPAG (the Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance).

What AGAR Assertion 6 covers

The Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) requires the council to complete a governance statement (Section 1) in which the full council confirms — by resolution — that it has properly discharged its responsibilities during the year. Assertion 6 states that the authority has maintained an up to date asset register during the year under review.

Signing Assertion 6 as "agreed" means the council is confirming that:

• An asset register exists
• It has been updated during the year — not just carried over unchanged from the prior year
• The assets recorded are owned (or controlled) by the council
• The register has been reviewed by the responsible financial officer and presented to the council

If the council signs Assertion 6 without a register that can be evidenced, it has made a false governance statement. Internal auditors check this point specifically, and external auditors may ask to see the register when they sample test the AGAR.

What counts as an asset

The asset register should record all fixed assets owned or held by the council. Fixed assets for a parish council typically include:

Land and property:

• Allotment land (whether freehold or leasehold)
• Village greens and recreation grounds
• Burial grounds and closed churchyards managed under agreement
• Any buildings owned by the council

Infrastructure:

• War memorials
• Noticeboards
• Benches, litter bins, and street furniture
• Playground equipment
• Boundary posts or signs

Equipment and vehicles:

• Grass cutting equipment, trailers, or tractors
• IT equipment (laptops, printers) above a de minimis threshold
• Defibrillators

Financial assets:

• Long-term investments (if any)
• Loans outstanding to the council

The council should agree a de minimis threshold — a minimum value below which items are not recorded as fixed assets. A common threshold for small councils is £100 or £500. Items below the threshold are expensed directly; items above it are capitalised and enter the register.

How to value assets

At cost or donation value. Where the council acquired an asset by purchase, the value is the purchase price including any associated costs (legal fees, delivery). Where an asset was donated, the value should reflect the fair market value at the time of transfer.

Depreciation. The JPAG Practitioners' Guide sets out the accounting basis for small councils. Most councils using the receipts and payments basis (the simpler method available to smaller authorities below the relevant turnover threshold — currently £6.5 million, per the JPAG Practitioners' Guide and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015) do not depreciate assets on the balance sheet. Instead, they record the original cost (or transfer value) and note the approximate remaining useful life. Councils using the income and expenditure basis (required at larger scales) must depreciate assets and adjust the balance sheet annually.

Land. Land is generally not depreciated. It is recorded at cost or transfer value and carried forward unless there is evidence of permanent impairment.

Revaluation. The register should note when each asset was last revalued. A prudent council reviews asset values periodically — particularly for land and significant infrastructure — to ensure the register reflects a reasonable approximation of current value for insurance purposes.

What the register should contain

At minimum, the asset register should contain a row per asset with:

Field	Description
Asset description	Enough to identify it uniquely
Location	Address or grid reference for land/property
Date acquired	Year of purchase, transfer, or gift
Cost / transfer value	Original value, as noted above
Current insured value	What it is insured for this year
Depreciation method	Or "not depreciated" for receipts/payments basis
Net book value	For income/expenditure accounts
Notes	Lease terms, planning conditions, bequest restrictions

The register should be dated and signed by the responsible financial officer when it is presented to the council — usually at the annual governance review before signing the AGAR.

Common audit findings

Internal auditors find three recurring problems with parish council asset registers:

1. The register has not been updated. The clerk carried forward the prior year's register without checking whether anything was acquired, disposed of, or destroyed during the year. A register with no changes year-on-year when the council bought equipment or transferred land is an immediate red flag.

2. Insurance values are inconsistent with the register. The council's insured values do not match what is in the register. This creates both governance risk (inadequate cover) and an audit question about whether the register reflects reality.

3. The register was never approved by the council. The responsible financial officer has maintained a record but it has never been presented to the full council as a governance document. Assertion 6 requires the council — not just the clerk — to confirm the register is up to date.

The fix for all three is the same: build the register review into the annual governance calendar as a scheduled agenda item before the AGAR is approved. The AGAR guide covers the full sequence of pre-AGAR actions the council must complete.

Assets on behalf of others

Some parish councils hold assets that are not legally theirs — they maintain play areas on land owned by a housing developer, manage a war memorial on behalf of a trust, or operate a recreation ground under a lease. These situations require care:

• Assets held under a trust deed should be recorded separately from the council's own assets, and the trust's status kept distinct from the council's general fund.
• Assets maintained under a management agreement (council maintains, but does not own) should be noted in the register with the ownership identified, but their value is usually not capitalised as a council asset.
• Leasehold interests should record the lease term, rental, and any break clauses — these affect the asset's ongoing value and the council's obligations.

Sources

• Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, Regulation 4 — accounting records and record of assets
• JPAG Practitioners' Guide (issued annually) — proper practices for smaller local authorities on the receipts and payments basis
• Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (full instrument)

This article is for general guidance on asset register requirements. Councils using the income and expenditure basis, or those with complex asset portfolios (leasehold land, trust holdings, major capital works), should take specific advice from their county association of local councils or a local government accounting professional.