Agenda item - Declarations of Interest

(a)      Disclosable pecuniary interests;

(b)      Any other interests required to be registered under the local code;

(c)      Any other general interest as a result of which a decision on the matter might reasonably be regarded as affecting you or a partner more than a majority of other people or businesses in the ward/s affected by the decision.

In each case, you need to declare

(i)        the item on the agenda the interest relates to;

(ii)      the nature of the interest; and

(iii)     whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest or some other interest.

If unsure, Members should seek advice from the committee lawyer or administrator preferably before the meeting.

84.1.        The Mayor noted that the Monitoring Officer had written to all Members to enable them to apply for dispensation, which he was authorised to grant, in order that they could take part and vote on the budget matters. It was for each individual Member to decide whether or not to apply for such dispensation and she confirmed that applications had been made and duly authorised.

84.2.        The Mayor stated that she had been made aware that a number of Members belonged to the Credit Union and therefore had a personal interest and had applied for and been granted dispensation in this respect.  Rather than each Member having to declare the interest, with the agreement of the Monitoring Officer she confirmed that they were Councillors Cattell, Daniel, Hill, Morgan, Robins, Simson and Geoffrey Theobald and asked that they confirm this declaration by affirmation.

84.3.        The Members mentioned by the Mayor confirmed their declarations in this regard.

84.4.        The Mayor then reminded Members that the dispensation did not dispense with the need to declare a pecuniary or personal interest and therefore asked if any such declarations needed to be made.

84.5.        Councillor Allen declared a personal and pecuniary interest in item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, for which he had been granted dispensation, as he was the Chair of the Open Market Community of Interest Company, to which the council had agreed to make a loan and had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.6.        Councillor Atkinson declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, for which he had been granted dispensation, as both he and his wife worked for the Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust.  He also declared that he was a Branch Secretary for UNISON at the Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust but that was independent of the UNISON Branch at the City Council and he had not received any election expenses from his union for the last local elections.  He had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.7.        Councillor Hill declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as she was a Trustee of the Hollingdean Development Trust, for which she had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.8.        Councillor Robins declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he rented an allotment and had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.9.        Councillor Barradell declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as she was a Trustee of the Crew Club and had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.10.     Councillor Morris declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he was also a member of the Board of the Brighton Dome and Festival limited and had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.11.     Councillor Janio declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as his wife held a trader’s permit; and he had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.12.     Councillor Simson declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as she was a trustee of the Deans Youth Project which was in receipt of a three-year grant.  She had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.13.     Councillor A. Norman declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as she was a trustee of the Martlets Hospice and also of the Keep Archives, and had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.14.     Councillor C. Theobald declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as she was the President of MENCAP Brighton & Hove and also a member of the Board of the Brighton Festival Ltd.  She had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.15.     Councillor Wealls declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he was a trustee of Impact Initiatives which ran the Hop 50 Club and Youth Collective.  He had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.16.     Councillor Deane declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as her partner worked for the Grace Eyre Foundation which benefitted from the grants process.  She had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.17.     Councillor Druitt declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he was the Director and a shareholder of The Big Lemon bus company which provided services to the council.  He had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

84.18.     Councillor Phillips declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as her husband was a director and shareholder of The Big Lemon Bus Company.  She had been granted dispensation to speak and vote.

She also noted that as she worked for the Terrence Higgins Trust that provided sexual health services to the council, she should have requested dispensation to speak and vote and had therefore emailed a request to the Monitoring Officer.

84.19.     Councillor Mac Cafferty declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he was a member of the Credit Union, and would put that in writing to the Monitoring Officer.

84.20.     Councillor Gibson declared a personal and pecuniary interest in Item 87, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2016/17, as he was a member of the Credit Union, and would put that in writing to the Monitoring Officer.

84.21.     The Monitoring Officer confirmed that applications for dispensation to speak and vote had been made by Members and granted, having consulted with the Independent Member of the Audit & Standards Committee.  He also confirmed that he was able to grant dispensation to those Members who had not previously made a request but had declared it and put it in writing to him at the meeting prior to their taking part in the debate.

84.22.     The Mayor noted that there were no other declarations of interests in matters appearing on the agenda.