Agenda item - Review of Code of Conduct for Members

Report of the Monitoring Officer (copy attached)

45.1 The Committee considered the report of the Monitoring Officer, which was presented by a Senior Lawyer. The report set out the recommendations of a cross-party working group tasked with reviewing the Code of Conduct for Members.

45.2  The lawyer referred the Committee to paragraphs 3.2 and 3.2A in Appendix 1 to the report and asked them to recommend which should one should be included in revised Code of Conduct for Members. Paragraph 3.2 read ‘Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to or affects an interest in Appendix B or a financial interest of the Member, a friend, relative or close associate (and it is not a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest), Members must declare the interest’. Paragraph 3.2A read ‘Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to or affectsan interest in Appendix B or a financial interest of the Member, their spouse or civil partner,a person whom they are living as husband or wife, or a person with whom they are living asif they are civil partners (and it is not a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest), Members mustdeclare the interest.’. The Committee agreed that paragraph 3.2A was preferable.

45.3  Councillor Simson referred to paragraph 1.6 in Appendix 1 and asked if there could be a hyperlink to all relevant documents, as she thought that that would be particularly useful for new Councillors.

45.4 Councillor Simson referred to paragraph 1.7 in Appendix 1, which read that ‘Members must not disclose information which is confidential or where disclosure is prohibited by law’, and suggested that there were occasions when it was in the public interest to disclose information. The Monitoring Officer said that all confidential information should be treated as such, if not a Member could disclose any confidential information on the basis that it ‘was in the public interest’.

45.5 Councillor A Norman said she was part of the cross-party working group who reviewed the Code of Conduct, and believed that there was a need to review and modify the current one, and the draft Code being considered today was a sensible one which she hoped would be agreed.

45.6 RESOLVED: That the Committee considered the draft revised Code of Conduct for Members (as amended) and agreed to refer it to Council for approval.