Penarth Town Council has defended its financial controls after a local website reported that an internal audit found there were no spending limits on its credit cards and that thousands of pounds of payments were never properly reported to councillors.
Penarth Daily News said an audit by JDH Business Services identified several weaknesses, including a lack of internal controls for credit‑card payments and “no transaction limits” or requirement to clear the balance each month.
The auditors also highlighted that credit‑card purchases were only reported to council if they exceeded £500 – and that at least one payment above that threshold could not be traced in reports to members.
The same audit criticised the absence of segregation of duties, noting that the town clerk both received and checked the credit‑card statements while also being a cardholder.
On wider spending, auditors pointed to payments totalling £27,443.66 to a specialist recruitment firm, and three further payments adding up to £13,881.24, where there was “no evidence” they had been referred to full council for approval as required.
In a statement to the Penarth Times, Penarth Town Council said the issues were formally reported to councillors at an internal audit update in April 2025 and that its Financial Regulations were updated to reflect the recommendations.
It said some payments over £500 did not initially appear on council reports because of “software limitations” but that those transactions were later presented to members in June 2025.
The council says payments above £500 now go to full council on a quarterly basis.
On the recruitment spending, the authority says errors were identified in how its finance system downloaded invoices. Because bills were itemised by daily amounts, the total invoice value was not flagged as a payment over £500.
Those transactions were later set out in an appendix to a finance report considered by councillors in February 2026.
Penarth Town Council says it has implemented the audit action plan and that its latest annual accounts have received an unqualified audit opinion, meaning external auditors were satisfied the figures give a true and fair view of its finances.
