Parish Council Compliance Checklist: Every Obligation in One Place

No single document lists every compliance obligation a parish council faces. The requirements are scattered across the SAPPP Practitioners' Guide, the Transparency Code, the Data Protection Act, the Localism Act, and half a dozen other sources. When audit season arrives, you are left checking each obligation from memory and hoping nothing slipped through.

This checklist brings them all together. Use it as a pre-audit reference, an onboarding document for new clerks, or a standing item for the annual governance review.

Governance obligations

• Council has adopted up-to-date standing orders (review annually at the annual meeting in May)
• Council has adopted financial regulations (review annually)
• Council has adopted a code of conduct and notified the monitoring officer
• All councillors have completed their register of interests within 28 days of election
• Register of interests published via the principal authority website
• Risk assessment reviewed and approved annually
• Insurance cover reviewed against current assets and activities
• Meeting agendas issued with 3 clear days' notice
• Minutes recorded, approved at the following meeting, and signed by the chairman
• Gifts and hospitality register maintained (threshold: £50)
• Council has a complaints procedure and the monitoring officer's contact details are accessible

Financial obligations

• Annual budget prepared and precept demand submitted to billing authority
• Cash book maintained and bank reconciliation completed monthly
• All payments authorised at council meetings and recorded in minutes
• VAT reclaimed on eligible expenditure
• Fixed asset register maintained and updated for additions/disposals
• AGAR completed — Section 1 (Annual Governance Statement) approved before Section 2 (Accounting Statements)
• Certificate of Exemption submitted by 30 June (if turnover ≤ £25,000) OR completed AGAR submitted to external auditor by 30 June
• Internal auditor appointed (independent of the council) and audit completed
• Variance explanations prepared for any AGAR figures differing more than 10–15% from the prior year

For the full AGAR process and deadlines, see our AGAR preparation guide. Use the audit deadline calculator for exact dates.

Publication and transparency obligations

• All items required under the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities published by 1 July (for councils with turnover ≤ £25,000)
• Publication scheme maintained and published on the council website (FOI Act 2000 requirement)
• Public rights period notice published on website and noticeboard — 30 working days, must include the first 10 working days of July
• Council website kept up to date with: meeting dates, agendas, minutes, contact information, councillor list, financial information
• AGAR documents published on the website after council approval

For the full list of mandatory publication items, see our Transparency Code guide.

Digital compliance obligations (Assertion 10)

• Council operates from a council-owned domain — not registered to an individual
• All council email uses official addresses on the council domain (no personal Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo)
• Council website meets WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards
• Accessibility statement published on the website and reviewed at least annually
• Council has a formally adopted IT policy covering email, devices, data, cybersecurity, and handover
• IT policy adoption recorded in council meeting minutes
• IT policy distributed to all councillors and staff
• Data handover procedures documented for when the clerk role changes

For the full Assertion 10 requirements, see our Assertion 10 compliance guide. Use the free IT Policy Generator if your council does not yet have an IT policy.

Data protection obligations

• Privacy notice published on the council website (review annually)
• Information asset register maintained — what personal data the council holds, where, and for how long
• ICO registration current and annual data protection fee paid
• Subject access request process documented (one calendar month response deadline)
• FOI request process documented (20 working day response deadline)
• Councillors and staff not processing council data via personal email accounts
• Data retention schedule in place — records past retention period deleted
• Breach response procedure documented (ICO notification within 72 hours if risk to individuals)

For the three GDPR failures the ICO keeps finding in parish councils, see our GDPR compliance guide.

Employment obligations

• Clerk's contract of employment in place (including job description, pay scale, hours, and notice period)
• Pension auto-enrolment obligations met (LGPS or alternative qualifying scheme)
• Employer liability insurance current
• Health and safety policy reviewed (required for councils with 5+ employees, best practice for all)
• Lone working risk assessment in place (for clerks working alone at council premises or public events)

Internal audit evidence

Your internal auditor checks compliance across all of the above areas. The evidence they will expect is summarised in our internal audit checklist guide. Key evidence items:

• Adopted policies (standing orders, financial regs, code of conduct, IT policy) with minutes showing adoption
• Bank reconciliation statements
• Budget monitoring reports
• Risk assessment with annual review date
• Insurance schedule matching current assets
• Privacy notice and ICO registration
• Accessibility statement with review date
• Domain and email evidence for Assertion 10
• Minutes of all council meetings with proper agenda notice

Using this checklist

Print it, pin it to the wall, or save it as a reference. Better still, use the interactive compliance checklist tool — it lets you self-assess against every obligation with traffic-light scoring and tracks your progress over time.

For the full annual compliance calendar with month-by-month deadlines, see our clerk responsibilities guide.

Sources

• Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities
• Localism Act 2011
• Data Protection Act 2018
• Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

The definitive source for parish council compliance requirements is the SAPPP Practitioners' Guide, published annually by JPAG through NALC and SLCC. This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice.