Agenda item

A joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor relative to a proposal in respect of the adoption and implementation of a consistent approach to the management and publication of Declarations of Interest by the City Corporation’s elected and Co-opted Members. 

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor in respect of the declaration arrangements for the City Corporation’s Co-opted Members.  The report had been requested by the Committee at its meeting in February to enable Members to fully understand the registration requirements for Co-opted Members and to enable them to consider the implementation of a more consistent approach to registration by both the City Corporation’s elected Members and its Co-opted Members.

The report set out the current arrangements which required voting Co-opted Members to submit a declaration which was retained on file in the Town Clerk’s department.  The Town Clerk advised the Committee that, during the annual update process, all Co-opted Members were contacted in writing, advised about the City Corporation’s registration requirements and then, in the case of the non-voting Co-opted Members, encouraged to submit a declaration.  The voting Co-opted Members were reminded of the requirement to submit a declaration.

A proposal in respect of the adoption and implementation of a consistent approach to the management and on-line publication of declarations of interest by both the City Corporation’s elected Members and the voting and non-voting Co-opted Members that serve on City Corporation committees was considered. The proposal would result in all Co-opted Members (voting and non-voting) being required to submit and maintain a Declaration of Interests, including both pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests.  It was noted that whilst a substantial amount of work would be required to implement the new arrangements over the coming months, and within the timescales specified in the report, on-going management would be relatively easy.  It was also noted that, given the changes, it was important that the Co-opted Members were fully aware of the new approach to managing and publishing declarations and that ample time be afforded to them to allow Co-opted Members to raise any queries ahead of submission of their Declarations by a specified deadline later in the year. 

In respect of the registration of interests by the Independent Persons and a requirement to submit a Declaration, the Comptroller & City Solicitor confirmed that the Independent Persons were not members of the Committee and therefore there was no requirement to submit a Declaration under the Code of Conduct.  Consequently, voluntary registration was a matter for them to consider unless the Committee determined that the Independent Persons should, like the elected and Co-opted Members that serve on City Corporation Committees, submit a Declaration. In response to another question, the Comptroller and City Solicitor confirmed that the status of the Independent Persons was unique to the Standards Committee.  On the basis that the Independent Persons might be called upon to consider Code of Conduct issues, the Committee agreed that those individuals serving in the role of Independent Person should be required to complete a Members’ Declaration and be invited to update it during the annual update process henceforth.

Resolved: - That –

(i) the report be noted; and

(ii) the proposal in respect of the adoption and implementation of a consistent approach to the management and publication of declarations of interest by the City Corporation’s elected Members, each of its Co-opted Members; and the Independent Persons be endorsed; and

(iii) the Committee be updated about implementation of the new arrangements at its meeting on 2nd October 2015.