2. Members Code of Conduct
David Lawson, Deputy Head of Legal & Deputy Monitoring Officer – Thurrock Council & LBBD
Head of Legal – Brentwood Council

3. To whom does the Code apply?
 Elected Members
 Voting Co-opted Members
If you are dual hatted – i.e. a Member of another town or parish Council or other relevant authority, that authority will also have to adopt a code which will apply to you when you act as a member of that authority.

4. When does the Code apply?
 Conducting the work of the Council
 Representing the Council
 Acting in official capacity
 Private and personal life
 Political activities (eg canvassing)

5.  Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (defined by legislation)
 Other Interests (in Thurrock’s locally adopted code)
 Personal Interests
 Prejudicial Interests
Change of regime – change of terminology and of content.
Forget everything you once knew!

6. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
An interest of yourself, or
An interest of –
Your spouse or civil partner
Person with whom you are living as husband and wife
Person with whom you are living as if you are civil partners
And you are aware that that other person has the interest.
Not children, siblings or other family members
Not close personal associates.
May be more than one other person giving rise to interests – eg if still married but living with someone else.

7. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Employment, office, trade, profession or vocation
 Carried on for profit or for gain
 Positions held within the Council
 Previous employment
 Voluntary work
Brief details of role and name of employer.
Profit or gain does not include the payment of expenses, but will include attendance fees

8. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Sponsorship
 Payment
 Other financial benefit
 Election expenses
 Expenses in carrying on duties as a Member
 Donations to your political group
Cold hard cash or other things of value – printing, loan of room (where there would otherwise have been a charge) etc Including payment or benefit from trade union.
Direct to you – not donations to your group / party
Given within last 12 months – therefore if you are clear in your entry about when given we can remove from register when those 12 months have elapsed so long as it is not an ongoing donation (eg £500 into election fund for 2014 election would be removed, monthly use of room for surgery would not)
In contrast to the relevant provisions of election law, there are no monetary limits to this rule. Members must register any donation, however small, whether monetary or in kind, to their election expenses.

9. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Contracts
 Between your Council and you
(or a firm in which you are a partner,
Or a body corporate of which you are a director or in the securities of which you have a beneficial interest)
 For goods or services, or
 For execution of works.
 Fully discharged.
When contract has been discharged can remove from register and don’t need to declare it – even if you will re-tender for similar contracts in the future.
You are only required to provide a brief description of the contract and the date, you do not need to disclose the value of the contract or other details.

10. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Land
 Beneficial interest
 Land in your Council’s area
 Easement or interest with no right to occupy or receive income
Eg – home address, property you rent out, grave plots (may not wish to occupy but have a right to occupy!)
You need to provide the address of the property or location of the land (such as map reference or field number)
You do not need to register any property you hold on trust for another person because that person would have the beneficial interest and not you. A trustee or official is not entitled to a share of the benefits.

11. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Licences
 Alone or with others
 Land in the area of your Council’s area
 One month or more
Month means a calendar month according to the Interpretation Act (therefore you can have an interest longer in May than you can in February before you have to register it!!!)
To be safe assume anything over 28 days.

12. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Corporate Tenancies
 Landlord is the Council (or Parish Council)
 Tenant is a firm in which you are a partner, or a body corporate of which you are a director, or in the securities of which you have a beneficial interest.
Register the address or description of the land.
Only required to register if you know about it – don’t have to delve into the details of companies in which you own shares etc.

13. Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
Securities
 Own or have the right to the income from securities in a body, and
 Nominal value > £25,000 or > 1/100 total issued share capital, and
 the body has Land or place of business in the Council’s Area (or Parish Council’s Area
 Building Society deposits
Don’t have to register if the body doesn’t have land / place of business in Council area.
More than one class of shares looking for each whether more than 1/100 of total of that class

14. Gifts and Hospitality (depending on local Code)
Not a DPI
But register within 28 days of receipt if:-
 Estimated value of £100 or more (TBC)
 Receive in your role as a Councillor
Do not register
 Civic Gifts
 Hospitality received by the Mayor
Include date of gift – (removed two years later by MO?)

15. Registration of Interests
When to register
 28 days from election or co-option
 28 days from a change occurring
 28 days from disclosure of an interest to a meeting
28 days from adoption – (as your interests change when the code is adopted the change rule applies.)
If re-elected then 28 days only need to register new interests – your existing registration will continue.
28 days from change – you get 28 days from when you become aware of the change.
We will prompt you at the beginning of each municipal year to consider whether there have been any changes to your register

16. Registration of Interests
You Must Register:-
 Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
 Gifts or hospitality (depending on local Code)
You May Register
 Any matter you wish to include voluntarily
You Should Not Register
 Any sensitive interest
Forget all you ever knew about personal and prejudicial – disclosable pecuniary interests are something new – they are not differentiated – you either have them or you don’t. If you have them you should register them
DPIs – defined by legislation
Council can also choose to add other interests to the register – in Thurrock and Barking & Dagenham have added gifts and hospitality,
You are not required to register anything else but you can register anything that you feel you want to – if you would be more comfortable with it in the public arena – needs to be your interest though (ie you or spouse / civil partner – not children, siblings etc)
Sensitive interests – you and monitoring officer consider that disclosure of details could lead to you, or a person connected with you, being subject to violence or intimidation – e.g. work in animal research, prison governor etc. The MO will keep a record and it will count as registered for the provisions on disclosure.

17. Disclosure of Interests
Disclose an interest if:-
 You are at a formal meeting of the Council; and
 You have a DPI in a matter considered; and
 That DPI is not on the register;
but do not disclose if the interest is:-
 Sensitive interest
This is what the law requires
Any committee, sub committee, joint committee, or joint sub committee
DPI in the matter – so no longer if matter ‘relates to’ your interest – disclose if the planning application is for your land but not if it is next door.
Sensitive interests – you and monitoring officer consider that disclosure of details could lead to you, or a person connected with you, being subject to violence or intimidation – e.g. work in animal research, prison governor etc.

18. Disclosure of Interests
Bring a DPI to the attention of the meeting if;-
 You are at a formal meeting of the Council; and
 You have a DPI in a matter considered; and
 That DPI is on the register
This is what is required in at Thurrock, Barking and Dagenham
The law does not require you to disclose the DPI as it is already registered, however bringing the interest to the attention of the meeting allows the clerk to minute the interest and makes it clear that you are not participating and why. If you do not bring it to the meeting’s attention and leave the room the public might think you merely had ‘other business’ to attend to.
It will also clarify your involvement if you make representations or give evidence but take no part in the discussion of the matter.

19.  Register the interest  Disclose it to a meeting
If you have a DPI
You should -
 Register the interest
 Disclose it to a meeting
But you should not –
 Participate in the discussion
 Participate in any vote
 (Local Code) Remain in the room during discussion or vote
Note – the local codes can go further than the law requires. It would not for example be a criminal offence to remain in the room (provided you take no part in discussion or voting) without disclosing the interest so long as it is on your register. Parish Councils may have adopted different codes which only go so far as the law demands – do not get confused if you are dual hatted!
It is possible to seek a dispensation allowing you to participate in the meeting and vote in relation to the relevant matter. The Clerk should be able to advise you what your Council or Parish Council’s arrangements are for seeking and granting dispensations.

20. Disclosure of Other Interests
Declare an interest if:-
 You are at a formal meeting of the Council; and
 You have a significant interest in a matter considered (affects your wellbeing); or
 It would be a DPI but for it relating to a member of your family other than your partner or relates to a close associate;
Decide whether to participate in discussion or voting on the matter.
You are not required to register an ‘other interest’ if you choose to declare one, but there is room on the form.
You may wish to consider whether your participation in discussion or voting would give rise to a perception of conflict of interest.
This provision does not replace requirements in relation to bias and predetermination in meetings.

21. Bias and predetermination
The Localism Act states that ‘just because’ a Member has done anything that directly or indirectly indicated what view they would take in relation to a matter, this does not mean that they had a ‘closed mind’.
This does not really change the approach taken so far in Thurrock Council which reflect this approach already.
The words ‘just because’ suggest that other factors when combined with statements made etc. can still give rise to accusations of predetermination so care still needs to be taken.
Still sensible to avoid statements which suggest that you will not listen to any opposing arguments, such as ‘over my dead body’. If dual hatted or considering a matter at more than committee, it is also sensible to state that you have considered the matter in another forum but that you are going to make the decision based on all the evidence presented to you.
If you are so associated with a particular outcome that a reasonable person would think you had predetermined the matter, then you should not take part in the decision as it could make the decision unsafe.

22. Enforcement of the Code
Two types of complaint:
Potential breach of the Code of Conduct
(Local issue)
Potential breach of rules regarding disclosable pecuniary interests
(Potential criminal offence)
Under the new regime people can complain about a breach of the Code in general, or a breach of the rules about disclosable pecuniary interests.
Complaints about the Code are dealt with locally by the Council.
Complaints about interests will be referred to the Police to consider as they are a potential criminal offence.

23. Local complaints Three stage process:-
Stage 1 – Initial assessment by Monitoring Officer
Stage 2 – Informal resolution / Investigation
Stage 3 – Standards and Audit – Hearing Panel
Complaint can be concluded at any of the three stages and there is no right of appeal (except for a review request to the Chief Executive over Monitoring officer’s Initial assessment decision).
Member knows about the complaint from the beginning of the process.
Process very different from the last one.
The first stage is deciding whether the complaint is valid or not. Complaints must contain substantiated information and outline the form of resolution the complainant is seeking. We will not accept anonymous complaints, complaints relating to a failure to respond to a constituents request, trivial, politically motivated or malicious complaints, or complaints that do not relate to the Code of Conduct.
The main difference is that the subject Member will know about the complaint from the start, and if the Monitoring Officer considers that it is a valid complaint, the subject Member and their Group Leader have the opportunity to try and resolve it before it enters the formal process. Types of resolution might include an explanation or apology, an agreement to undertake training or mentoring, or mediation or conciliation with the complainant, but it is up to the subject Member to decide what is appropriate in the circumstances.
The subject Member can seek guidance from their Group Leader, the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person at this stage. The Monitoring Officer will consult with the Independent Person (s) and decide whether it has been appropriately addressed. If not, it will be referred to the local hearing arrangements . So under the new process you can see that a local hearing is a last resort, not the first port of call.

24. Local Hearing Arrangements
The Standards & Audit Hearing Panel of 2 elected and 2 independent Members to consider complaints. Meetings are not automatically private, but public would be excluded if exempt information is on the agenda.
Receives information from the Monitoring Officer, view of Independent Person, and statements from the complainant and subject Member.
Decides, on the balance of probabilities, whether the Code has been breached and what action to recommend.
The Standards and Audit Committee – Hearing Panel will include 2 Independent / Co-opted Members and 2 elected Members (one Member from the same group as the subject Member if possible) and Chair must be an Independent Member.

25. Sanctions Options include: No right of appeal. A formal letter;
Formal censure by a motion of the Council;
Removal of the Member from a relevant committee or outside bodies.
The possible sanctions under the new regime are much lighter than before. It is no longer possible for a Member to be suspended or forced to apologise
No right of appeal.

26. Independent Person
Can be contacted by Members for advice on complaints at any time.
Must be asked for advice when considering a complaint.
Can only give a view, cannot take part in the decision on a complaint and is not a co-opted Member.
The Independent Person is not the same as the former Independent Member, it is a different role.
Its important to note that although the Independent Person’s view must be taken into account, they cannot take part in the decision at the hearing and they have no vote on the matter.
They are not an advocate or representative for the subject Member, but they can give advice on what they consider to be the severity of the complaint and what the Member might do to resolve the issue.

27. Criminal offences
A Member commits a criminal offence if (without reasonable excuse) they:-
Fail to register or declare a DPI; or
Participate in a discussion or vote with a DPI.
Also if they knowingly provide information that is false or misleading in relation to their DPIs, or are reckless as to whether the information is true and not misleading.

28. Criminal offences
These complaints would be investigated by the Police.
If convicted by a Court:-
Could be fined up to £5,000; and
Disqualified for up to five years.
Cannot be prosecuted for an offence that happened more than three years ago.

29. Standards of Conduct
 Have regard to and act in accordance with the standards.
 Act in accordance with any supplementary guidance
The Standards of Conduct are based on the general principles of public life. According to the Act, all Codes must be consistent with the general principles, but this is how the Council has chosen to interpret them.

30.  Serve in the public interest
Standards of Conduct
Selflessness
 Serve in the public interest
 Do not improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage
 Become involved in all requests for assistance
Advantage or disadvantage on any person, group, organisation or other third party.
You are not as a Member obliged to become involved in all requests for assistance from your constituents. (If they aren’t happy that is a matter for the ballot box not the code.)

31.  Appear to behave improperly
Standards of Conduct
Honesty and Integrity
 Avoid situations where your honesty and integrity could be questioned
 Behave improperly
 Appear to behave improperly

32.  Base decisions on the information before you
Standards of Conduct
Objectivity
 Base decisions on the information before you
 Have regard to professional advice
 Act in accordance with the public interest
 Make decisions on merit
This is in addition to the common law requirements of good decision making – eg ensuring you take all relevant considerations into account, not taking irrelevant considerations into account, and making your decision within a band of reasonableness.
It is also in addition to the concepts of bias and predetermination

33.  For your decisions, actions and the way you carry out your duties
Standards of Conduct
Accountability
 For your decisions, actions and the way you carry out your duties
 You should co-operate with scrutiny appropriate to your office
 Action bringing the Council into disrepute
 Action bringing your position as a Member into disrepute

34.  Be as open as possible about your actions
Standards of Conduct
Openness
 Be as open as possible about your actions
 Be as open as possible about the authority’s actions
 Give reasons for your actions
 Share confidential information
Information law, such as freedom of information and data protection, continues to apply.

35.  Promote and maintain high standards of conduct
Leadership
 Promote and maintain high standards of conduct
 Act to secure and preserve the confidence of others
 Have regard to the impartiality and integrity of officers

36. Head of Legal – Brentwood Council
Any Questions
David Lawson, Deputy Head of Legal & Deputy Monitoring Officer – Thurrock Council & LBBD
Head of Legal – Brentwood Council