2 Description of the draft Order
3. Currently, parish councils, some groups of charter
trustees and community councils in Wales are subject to a statutory
rule that all cheques and other orders for payment of money must
be signed by two members of the council. Section 150(5) of the
Local Government Act 1972 (the "1972 Act") provides
that cheques and other payment orders must be signed by two members
of the parish or community council. Section 246(12) of the 1972
Act and regulation 15(2) of the Charter Trustee Regulations 1996
make the same provision for the groups of charter trustees which
are governed by the 1972 Act.
4. The draft Order would remove this statutory requirement
for two signatures for these bodies. The Government's policy objectives
are to facilitate the use by these bodies of electronic payment
methods and to reduce the "unreasonable and unproductive"
use of time associated with the current rule.[2]
5. The draft Order would apply to England and Wales.
The Welsh Minister for Local Government and Government Business
wrote to the Department on 15 October 2013 to confirm his support
for the reform to extend to Wales.
2 Ibid paragraph 2.7 Back
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