Local Government Transparency Code 2015

 

Updated April 2026.

The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 (the Code) came into effect on 1 April 2015. The code is issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in exercise of powers under section 2 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980. The Code replaces any previous codes issued in relation to authorities in England under those powers.

The Code does not replace or supersede the existing framework for access to and re-use of public sector information provided by the:

• Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012)
• Environmental Information Regulations 2004
• Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005
• Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community Regulations 2009
• Sections 25 and 26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 which provides rights for persons to inspect a local authority’s accounting records and supporting documentation, and to make copies of them.

Todmorden Town Council meets the definition of a local authority covered by the requirements of the Code, as it is defined as ‘a parish council which has gross annual income or expenditure (whichever is higher) exceeding £200,000’.

 

Code Requirements

The Code requires local authorities in England to publish the following information quarterly:

• Expenditure Exceeding £500
• Government Procurement Card transactions
• Procurement information

Additionally, local authorities are required to publish the following information annually:

• Local Authority Land
• Social Housing Assets
• Grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations
• Organisational Chart
• Trade union facility time
• Parking account
• Parking spaces
• Senior salaries & pay multiple
• Constitution
• Fraud

Todmorden Town Council complies with the requirements of the Code by publishing this information on this website.

 

Payments over £500

Todmorden Town Council publishes details of all payments made at all values.

Payments made are published monthly via the schedules of payments presented monthly to the Full Council, with the exception of August where no Full Council meeting takes place. Two months of payments are presented at the September Full Council meeting.

At the end of each financial year, the whole year of payments are published. They can be found on our Accounts page.

 

Government Procurement Card Transactions

The code requires that local authorities must publish details of every transaction on a Government Procurement Card. For each transaction, the following details must be published:

• Date of the transaction
• Local authority department which incurred the expenditure
• Beneficiary
• Amount
• Value Added Tax (VAT) that cannot be recovered
• Summary of the purpose of the expenditure
• Merchant category

Todmorden Town Council does not use a Government Procurement Card.

 

Procurement Information

The code requires that local authorities must publish details of every invitation to tender for contracts to provide goods and/or services with a value that exceeds £5,000.

For each invitation, the following details must be published:

• Reference number
• Title
• Description of the goods and/or services sought
• Start, end and review dates
• Local authority department responsible

The code requires that local authorities must also publish details of any contract, commissioned activity, purchase order, framework agreement and any other legally enforceable agreement with a value that exceeds £5,000.

For each contract, the following details must be published:

• Reference number
• Title of agreement
• Local authority department responsible
• Description of the goods and/or services sought
• Supplier name and details
• Sum to be paid over the length of the contract or the estimated annual spending or budget for the contract
• Value Added Tax (VAT) that cannot be recovered
• Start, end and review dates
• Whether or not the contract was a result of an invitation to quote or a published invitation to tender
• Whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation and where it is, provide the relevant registration number

Todmorden Town Council publishes details of invitations to tender and contracts on our website when a tender is live.

Local Authority Land

The Code requires that local authorities must publish details of all land and building assets including:

All service and office properties occupied or controlled by user bodies, both freehold and leasehold
• Any properties occupied or run under Private Finance Initiative contracts
• Garages unless rented as part of a housing tenancy agreement
• Surplus, sublet or vacant properties
• Undeveloped land
• Serviced or temporary offices where contractual or actual occupation exceeds three months
• All future commitments, for example under an agreement to lease, from when the contractual commitment is made

Land and buildings owned by Todmorden Town Council can be found on our Asset Register.

 

Social Housing Assets

The code requires that local authorities must publish details of the value of social housing stock that is held in their Housing revenue Account. The following social housing stock data must be published:

• Valuation data to be listed at postal sector level
• Valuation data for the dwellings using both Existing Use Value for Social Housing and market value as of 1 April
• An explanation of the difference between tenanted sale value of dwellings within the Housing revenue Account and their market sale value

Todmorden Town Council does not provide any social housing or hold any social housing stock.

 

Grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations

We publish all grants that are awarded, including the amount and purpose of the grant, the date awarded, the responsible Committee and the beneficiary.

Grant award information can be found on our Grants Page.

 

Organisation Chart

Trade Union Facility Time

The Code requires that local authorities must publish the following information on trade union facility time:

• Total number (absolute number and full time equivalent) of staff who are union representatives
• Total number (absolute number and full time equivalent) of union representatives who devote at least 50 per cent of their time to union duties
• Names of all trade union represented in the local authority
• A basic estimate of spending on unions
• A basic estimate of spending on unions as a percentage of the total pay bill

No Todmorden Town Council employees are union representatives.

 

Parking Account

The Code requires that local authorities must publish on their website, or place a link on their website to this data if published elsewhere:

• A breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account, including details of revenue collected form on-street parking, off-street parking and Penalty Charge Notices
•  A breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account

Todmorden Town Council is not responsible for any parking spaces and therefore does not have a parking account.

 

Parking Spaces

The Code requires that local authorities must publish the number of marked out controlled on and off-street parking spaces within their area, or an estimate of the number of spaces where controlled parking spaces are not marked out in individual parking bays or spaces.

Todmorden Town Council is not responsible for any parking spaces.

 

Senior Salaries & Pay Multiple

Pay Multiple Disclosure

In accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code, the Council is required to publish the ratio between the highest paid employee’s remuneration and the median remuneration of the whole workforce.

The pay multiple for the financial year ending 5 April 2026 is 1.99:1.

This has been calculated using the total taxable earnings for the year, as reported through the payroll system. Total taxable earnings include base salary and variable pay. Pension benefits have been excluded from this calculation.

The median remuneration has been calculated using the earnings of all employees in post on the snapshot date at the end of the financial year. The Council is a small organisation with a total workforce of five employees, and therefore the pay multiple reflects the structure and size of the organisation.

Senior Employee Remuneration

The Council has one employee whose remuneration exceeds £50,000. In accordance with the Transparency Code, this post is disclosed as follows:

• Job Title: Town Clerk
• Remuneration Band: £55,000 – £59,999

This remuneration figure includes total taxable earnings for the year.

A summary of responsibilities for this role is as follows:

• Overall management of the Council’s operations
• Responsibility for financial management and budget oversight
• Oversight of staff and delivery of Council services

No bonuses or benefits-in-kind were paid during the year.

 

Constitution

Local authorities are already required to make their constitution documents available for inspection at their offices under section 9P of the Local Government Act 2000. Local authorities must also, under the Code, publish their constitution on their website.

Todmorden Town Council has Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and a Code of Conduct in place which can all be found on our policies page – Policies.

 

Fraud

The code requires that local authorities to publish the following information about their counter fraud work:

• Number of occasions they use powers under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud (Power to Require Information) (England) Regulations 2014, or similar powers
• Total number (absolute and full time equivalent) of employees undertaking investigations and prosecutions of fraud
• Total number (absolute and full time equivalent) of professionally accredited counter fraud specialists
• Total amount spent by the authority on the investigation and prosecution of fraud
• Total number of fraud cases investigated

Todmorden Town Council has no staff members undertaking fraud investigation work.