The Treasurer of the GDCC is responsible for looking after the Community Council’s funds. They must keep accurate records of all financial transactions and these records must be made available for inspection on request. For ease we have uploaded a record of our historical audited accounts. For specific information on our accounts recent information is also available.
The Treasurer makes a ‘report’ at each meeting, giving an update of any income and expenses since the previous meeting and informing members of the resultant bank balance. A record of these reports can be found in the minutes of our meetings.
The City of Edinburgh Council pays an annual grant to the community council, this amounts to two pence per resident on top of a base amount of ~£522. In our case our full grant amounts to £922.94 (As of 2020).
The spending of the grant needs to be in accordance with the Scheme for Community Councils, it is the responsibility of all council members to ensure this. The principal purpose of the grant is to cover expenses such as: photocopying/printing, production of leaflets, website hosting, meeting room hire, public liability insurance and any other means of consulting with or expressing the views of the community. We can donate a minor amount of money to local charitable and community activities but this is not the true purpose of the grant, in recent years we have donated to local food banks at Christmas and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Community Councils can raise extra funds by organising galas, applying for grants (such as the CEC community grant or lottery funding) and so on. Any extra funds raised by these means can be spent however the Community Council decides, providing it affords benefit to the local community.
Our bank account is set up in the name of the organisation and requires at least two signatures for any payment, generally all payments will be made following approval from a council meeting. At GDCC we hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May or June (although in 2020, due to Covid-19 it was held in October). The Treasurer is required to produce a set of accounts for the previous financial year (i.e. 1st April –31st March). We will then appoint an independent auditor who will be tasked to audit the annual accounts. The audited accounts will be presented at the AGM and as scanned copy will be sent to the Council.
If you have any questions about our financials, accounts, or wish to get in touch with us about a potential grant application, please contact us.
Gorgie Dalry Community Council 