Agenda item - Declarations of Interest

(a)         Disclosable of pecuniary interests not registered on the register of 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.

77.1         The Mayor noted that the Monitoring Officer had written to all Members to enable tem 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.  She 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.

77.2         Councillor Janio declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in Item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 as his wife held a Trader’s Permit, which was affected by the budget proposals.

77.3         Councillor C. Theobald declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in Item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 as she was the president of Mencap, Brighton & Hove.

77.4         Councillor Davey declared a pecuniary interest in Item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 for which he had been granted dispensation, as his wife worked in Adult Social Care.

77.5         Councillor Hamilton declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in Item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 as his daughter worked part-time for the council.

77.6         Councillor G. Theobald raised a Point of Order in regard to the number of Members who held a trade union membership and queried whether the failure to declare at the present meeting prevented those Members from taking part and voting on the items before them.

77.7         The Monitoring Officer stated that the decision to declare a personal and/or prejudicial interest was for each Member to decide on and should any Member have a concern, they could seek advice from him or his officers, however in not making such a declaration, it would not invalidate the proceedings .  He also noted that under the current regulations if a Member had listed their interest in their Register of Interests then there was no need to make such a declaration at a subsequent committee or council meeting.

77.1         Councillor Duncan declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 as he a member of the GMB which was affected by the budget proposals.

77.2         Councillor Powell declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in item 79, General Fund Revenue Budget & Council Tax 2014/15 as she worked for Brighton & Hove Federation for Disabled; and was an active Unison Member all of which were affected by the budget proposals.

77.3         The Mayor noted that there were no other declarations of interests in matters appearing on the agenda.  She also informed the Council that a technical problem had occurred with the web cast of the meeting and she therefore wished to hold a short adjournment to enable the fault to be rectified.  The Mayor then adjourned the meeting at 4.40pm.

77.4         The Mayor reconvened the meeting at 4.55pm and noted that it was hoped that the technical fault would be resolved but stated that she felt it was necessary to continue with the meeting.