Agenda item

A joint report of the Town Clerk and Comptroller & City Solicitor relative to the introduction of a new Code of Conduct and interest provisions under the Localism Act 2011 (copy attached).

A joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor explained that a report was presented to the Police Committee, Standards Committee, Policy & Resources Committee and the Court of Common Council in June 2012 concerning the new standards regime under the Localism Act 2011.  It was intended to bring back another report once the regulations defining a disclosable pecuniary interest had been made.  Those regulations were attached to the report (Appendix 2), together with new guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government (Appendix 3).  Disclosable pecuniary interests may arise in relation to employment, sponsorship, contracts, land, licences, corporate tenancies and securities, and pertaining to a Member or their partner.  Technically, Members are required to notify the monitoring officer of all current disclosable pecuniary interests within 28 days of being elected or co-opted, or re-elected or re-appointed.  However, once the new standards arrangements have been approved by the Court of Common Council, the Town Clerk will be writing to all Members asking for information about their current disclosable pecuniary interests. 

Members views were requested on what other interests (if any) should be notified and disclosed, and in what manner, with the most likely additional category of interest being gifts and hospitality.  Members also needed to adopt a new Code of Conduct, and it was recommended that this should be in the form suggested by DCLG (Appendix 1).

Members agreed that a note produced by the Chairman of Policy & Resources, which had been tabled, be disregarded.

A detailed discussion took place on gifts and hospitality, which are not classed as disclosable pecuniary interests.  Members were generally supportive of not including specific additional provisions in relation to the registration and disclosure of gifts and hospitality.  In part, Members considered that this was covered by the criminal law.  It was also noted that under the new regime Members had to have regard to the Nolan principles, and that there were general provisions in the proposed Code of Conduct that imposed obligations on Members in relation to gifts and hospitality.  Members felt that a common sense approach should be adopted that took account of individual circumstances.

It was agreed that further guidance in relation to what level of gifts and hospitality might give rise to a concern or impression of going contrary to the Code of Conduct would be a good item of work for the Committee for the next meeting.

RESOLVED – That Members:

(i)           note the statutory definition of a disclosable pecuniary interest; and

Recommend to the Court of Common Council:

(ii)        that no arrangements are considered appropriate for the notification and disclosure of interests other than disclosable pecuniary interests; and

(iii)       that a Code of Conduct in the form set out at Appendix 1 be adopted as the City’s Code of Conduct with effect from 26 October 2012.