Financial control
What strong internal controls look like in practice.
Good controls should be proportionate, understood and visible in the council’s records—not merely written into policy.
WGW perspective
Design controls that work in real life.
A strong control is one that addresses a real risk, has a clear owner and leaves evidence that it happened. In a smaller council, proportionality matters: the answer is not always more procedure, but it should always be clear who may approve, record, check and report a transaction.
Where complete separation of duties is impractical, visible member oversight, independent review and timely reporting can provide compensating safeguards. Policies and financial regulations should match the council’s actual working arrangements.