MAYOR AND CABINET (CONTRACTS) Report…

                                MAYOR AND CABINET (CONTRACTS)
Report Title           DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Key Decision                                                                                               Item No. 2

Ward

Contributors           CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Class                  Part 1                                                      Date: 9 JULY 2008



        Declaration of interests
        Members are asked to declare any personal interest they have in any item on the
        agenda.

        Personal interests
        There are two types of personal interest :-
           (a) an interest which you must enter in the Register of Members' Interests*
           (b) an interest where the wellbeing or financial position of you, (or a "relevant
               person") is likely to be affected by a matter more than it would affect the
               majority of in habitants of the ward or electoral division affected by the
               decision.

        *Full details of registerable interests appear on the Council's website.

        ("Relevant" person includes you, a member of your family, a close associate, and
        their employer, a firm in which they are a partner, a company where they are a
        director, any body in which they have securities with a nominal value of £25,000 and
        (i) any body of which they are a member, or in a position of general control or
        management to which they were appointed or nominated by the Council, and
        (ii) any body exercising functions of a public nature, or directed to charitable
        purposes or one of whose principal purpose includes the influence of public opinion
        or policy, including any trade union or political party) where they hold a position of
        general management or control,

        If you have a personal interest you must declare the nature and extent of it before
        the matter is discussed or as soon as it becomes apparent, except in limited
        circumstances. Even if the interest is in the Register of Interests, you must declare it
        in meetings where matters relating to it are under discussion, unless an exemption
        applies.

        Exemptions to the need to declare personal interest to the meeting
        You do not need to declare a personal interest where it arises solely from
        membership of, or position of control or management on:

               (a) any other body to which your were appointed or nominated by the Council
               (b) any other body exercising functions of a public nature.

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In these exceptional cases, unless your interest is also prejudicial, you only need to
declare your interest if and when you speak on the matter .

Sensitive information
If the entry of a personal interest in the Register of Interests would lead to the
disclosure of information whose availability for inspection creates or is likely to create
a serious risk of violence to you or a person living with you, the interest need not be
entered in the Register of Interests, provided the Monitoring Officer accepts that the
information is sensitive. Where this is the case, if such an interest arises at a
meeting, it must be declared but you need not disclose the sensitive information.

Prejudicial interests
Your personal interest will also be prejudicial if all of the following conditions are met:

       (a) it does not fall into an exempt category (see below)
       (b) the matter affects either your financial interests or relates to regulatory
           matters - the determining of any consent, approval, licence, permission or
           registration
       (c) a member of the public who knows the relevant facts would reasonably
           think your personal interest so significant that it is likely to prejudice your
           judgement of the public interest.

Categories exempt from being prejudicial interest

       (a)Housing ­ holding a tenancy or lease with the Council unless the matter
           relates to your particular tenancy or lease; (subject to arrears exception)
       (b) School meals, school transport and travelling expenses; if you are a parent
           or guardian of a child in full time education, or a school governor unless
           the matter relates particularly to the school your child attends or of which
           you are a governor;
       (c) Statutory sick pay; if you are in receipt
       (d) Allowances, payment or indemnity for members
       (e)Ceremonial honours for members
       (f) Setting Council Tax or precept (subject to arrears exception)

Effect of having a prejudicial interest
If your personal interest is also prejudicial, you must not speak on the matter.
Subject to the exception below, you must leave the room when it is being discussed
and not seek to influence the decision improperly in any way.

Exception
The exception to this general rule applies to allow a member to act as a community
advocate notwithstanding the existence of a prejudicial interest. It only applies
where members of the public also have a right to attend to make representation, give
evidence or answer questions about the matter. Where this is the case, the member
with a prejudicial interest may also attend the meeting for that purpose. However the
member must still declare the prejudicial interest, and must leave the room once they
have finished making representations, or when the meeting decides they have


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finished, if that is earlier. The member cannot vote on the matter, nor remain in the
public gallery to observe the vote.

Prejudicial interests and overview and scrutiny

In addition, members also have a prejudicial interest in any matter before an
Overview and Scrutiny body where the business relates to a decision by the
Executive or by a committee or sub committee of the Council if at the time the
decision was made the member was on the Executive/Council committee or sub-
committee and was present when the decision was taken. In short, members are not
allowed to scrutinise decisions to which they were party.




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