Introduction

Pursuant to section 27 of the Localism Act 2011, Ingestre with Tixall Parish Council (‘the Council’) has adopted this Code of Conduct to promote and maintain high standards of behaviour by its members and co-opted members whenever they conduct the business of the Council, including the business of the office to which they were elected or appointed, or when they claim to act or give the impression of acting as a representative of the Council.

Parish Councils have two main duties in the New Standards Regime:

·        They must promote and maintain high standards of conduct of members and co-opted members

·        and they must have a code of conduct. This must be consistent with the 7 principles: Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership; and it must also include requirements for registration and disclosure of interests.

This means that Parish Councillors must be aware of any problems and take action to remedy them, e.g. non-disclosure of interests.

            Stafford Borough Council’s Monitoring Officer, Mr Welch, must keep a copy of the Register of Interests, have it available for inspection and publish it on their website. It must also be displayed on the Parish Council website.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Code, a member of the Ingestre with Tixall Parish Council is known as a Parish Councillor and has been elected by the Community to represent Ingestre or Tixall Parish. The Parish Councillor  may have been selected as a parish Councillor by an election held locally or may have been co-opted by the existing members of the Council.

For the purposes of this Code a person may also be invited to serve the Parish Council for a specific purpose and time. This person becomes a member of the Council for the time that they provide specialist services to the Council, but does not serve the Parish as a Parish Councillor (see above). They may be:

a) a member of any committee or sub-committee of the Council;

b) a member of, and may represent the Council on, any joint committee;

c) a person who is invited to join he Council to advise on a particular issue.

For the purposes of this Code, a ‘meeting’ is a meeting of the Council, any of its committees, sub-committees, joint committees or joint sub-committees.

For the purposes of this Code, and unless otherwise expressed, a reference to a member of the Council includes a co-opted member of the Council.

1. Member obligations

1.1 When acting in their role as a member of the Council, members should:-        

·        Treat others with respect                                      

·        Not seek to improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person

·        Not conduct themselves in a manner which is contrary to the Council's duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct of members

·        Not act in a way which a reasonable person would regard as bullying or intimidatory.

·        Not disclose information given to them in confidence by anyone, or information acquired by them which they believe, or ought reasonably to be aware, is of a confidential nature, except where—

(i)      they have the consent of a person authorised to give it;

(ii)     they are required by law to do so;

(iii)   the disclosure is made to a third party for the purpose of obtaining professional legal advice provided that the third party agrees not to disclose the information to any other person; or

(iv)   the disclosure is—

                (a) reasonable and in the public interest; and

     (b) made in good faith and in compliance with the reasonable requirements of     the authority; and                                                 

                (c)    they have consulted the Monitoring Officer prior to its release; or                  

·        Not prevent another person from gaining access to information to which that person is entitled by law.

1.2. When using or authorising the use by others of the resources of the authority, members should:-

·          Act in accordance with the Council's reasonable requirements; and

·          Make sure that such resources are not used improperly for political purposes        (including party political purposes); and

·           Have regard to any applicable Local Authority Code of Publicity made under the Local Government Act 1986.

1.3. Although members can indicate their general views in discussions before the meeting, it is important that they do not come to a meeting with a predetermined view regardless of any discussion at the meeting. They must listen to the arguments before making a final, objective decision.

2. Gifts and Hospitality

2.1. Members must within 28 days of receipt notify the Monitoring Officer of any gift or hospitality of a value over £25 received in their role as a member of the Council.

2.2. Any gifts or hospitality notified to the Monitoring Officer will be included in the register of gifts and hospitality. A copy of the register will be available for public inspection and will be published on the Council's website.                                                                      

2.3. In deciding whether to accept a gift or hospitality a member should consider what a reasonable member of the public would think about the gift. If a member of the public might think that the gift or hospitality was given to influence a decision or to gain some benefit from the member's actions it should not be accepted. The following is guidance on what may or may not be acceptable:-

·        Modest gifts or hospitality in the context of meetings, conferences or events where it is offered to all or a range of participants is acceptable.

·        Lavish or repeated hospitality, particularly if given only to a member or the members family is unacceptable.

·        Small gifts in thanks for assistance given are acceptable.

·        A gift or hospitality given in anticipation of a decision of the Council by a person interested in the outcome of the decision is unacceptable.

·         A gift or hospitality given after a decision of the Council by a person who has benefitted from the decision is unacceptable.

3. Registration of interests

3.1.   Within 28 days of the member's election or the co-opted member’s appointment (where that is later), he/she shall inform the Clerk and register with the Borough Council Monitoring Officer the interests which fall within the categories set out in Disclosable Pecuniary Interests DPI and Other Interests covered by the Code of Conduct.

3.2. Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) covered by statutory provisions. Appendix 1.

A pecuniary interest in any business of the Council is where the interest is one which:-

       (a)  affects the financial position of you or a relevant person; or

       (b)   relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or

              registration in relation to you or any relevant person; and a member of the public

              with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard the interest as so

              significant that it is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest.

       This includes:

               •  Employment, trade or profession

               •  Contracts with the Council, eg. Grass cutting round stone seats

               •  Beneficial interests in land in the parish, eg. Shooting rights

               •  Companies which occupy land in the parish, i.e. Corporate tenancies

               •  [Sponsorship, Licences to occupy land; £25000 or 1/10^th of share capital in

                   companies with a place of business or land in the parish]

        These also include spouses or partners if they have not already been registered by the member and the member is aware of them.

        It is a criminal offence not to register or declare an interest, to participate when a member has a DPI or to knowingly or recklessly give false or misleading information about a DPI, e.g. You should ask your spouse or partner.

        However, at present it would be difficult to bring a successful prosecution. The police should be informed rather than Stafford BC if an offence occurs.

3.3. Other interests covered by this Code of Conduct:

3.3.1. A member must within 28 days of becoming aware of the relevant facts notify the Monitoring Officer in writing if they have a personal interest in a matter of business of the Council where a decision in relation to that business might reasonably be regarded as affecting their well-being or financial position or the well-being or financial position of a relevant person to a greater extent than the majority of other council tax payers, ratepayers or inhabitants of the electoral ward affected by the decision.

 3.3.2. A relevant person for the purpose of this Code is—

        a)  a member of their family or any person with whom they have a close association;

            or

        b)  any person or body who employs or has appointed such persons, any firm in

           which they are a partner, or any company of which they are directors;

        c)  any body in whom such persons have a beneficial interest in a class of securities

           exceeding the nominal value of £25,000; or

        d)  any body of a type described below:

               (i)  any body of which you are a member or in a position of general control or

               management and to which you are appointed or nominated by the Council;

               (ii)  any body of which you are a member or in a position of general control or

               management exercising functions of a public nature;

               (iii) any body of which you are a member or in a position of general control or

               management directed to charitable purposes;

               (iv) any body of which you are a member or in a position of general control or

               management one of whose principal purposes includes the influence of public

              opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union), of which you are a

              member or in a position of general control or management; or

3.3.3. In practice this is usually:-

·        Personal Interests including land held by siblings and other family members.

·        Membership oflngestre & Tixall Parochial Church Committees, Tixall & Ingestre          Village Hall and Friends of lngestre Orangery

      However, these cannot result in a criminal offence, but there is still a law of bias when

      reaching a decision.

3.4.   Upon the re-election of a member, he/she shall within 28 days inform the Clerk and register with the Monitoring Officer any DPI changes or interests not already registered.

3.5.   A member shall inform the Clerk and register with the Borough Council Monitoring Officer any change to interests within 28 days of becoming aware of it.

3.6.   A member need only declare the existence but not the details of any DPI interest which the Borough Council Monitoring Officer agrees is a 'sensitive interest'.

     A sensitive interest is one which, if disclosed on a public register, could lead the member or a person connected with the member to be subject to violence or intimidation.

4. Declaration of interests at meetings

4.1. When a member has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or DPI in a matter to be considered at a meeting they must:

           •  Disclose it to the meeting if not registered;

           • Notify the Monitoring Officer of it within 28 days;                                   

           • Not participate in the discussion or vote                                           

        If it is a sensitive interest which has not already been disclosed the Borough Council            Monitoring Officer, the member shall disclose he/she has an interest but not the nature of it.

4.2.  Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to another interest as shown above in 3.3in 3, the member shall not vote on the matter unless they have been given a dispensation.

4.3. He/she may speak on the matter for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the business.

4.4. A member only has to declare his/her other interest if it is not already entered in his/her         register of interests or he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it or if he/she speaks on the matter.

4.5. If he/she holds an interest in Appendix B which is a sensitive interest not already disclosed to the Monitoring Officer, he/she shall declare the interest but not the nature of the interest.

4.6. Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to a financial interest of a friend relative or close associate (other than a DPI), the member shall disclose the nature of the interest and not vote on the matter.

4.7. He/she may speak on the matter only if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting.     

 4.8.  If it is a 'sensitive interest' the member shall declare the interest but not the nature of the  interest.

5. Dispensations

5.1. On a written request made to the Council's proper officer, the Council may grant a member a dispensation to participate in a discussion and vote on a matter at a meeting even if he/she has an interest in Appendices A and B if the Council believes that the number of members otherwise prohibited from taking part in the meeting would impede the transaction of the business- or it is in the interests of the inhabitants in the Council's area to allow the member to take part or it is otherwise appropriate to grant a dispensation.

        The Parish Council may grant a dispensation if:

o   The number of members with an interest is so great the business would be impeded

o   In the interests of people living in the area

o   Otherwise appropriate

 5.2. The dispensation should be granted by the non-affected members if possible, e g for Village Hall and the two PCCs. Previously a "DPO" only applied if a member was affected more than other local residents, but this no longer applies.

   Currently general dispensations have been granted by the Parish Council for the following-

Tixall & Ingestre Village Hall Trustees:  Dr A.Andrews, Mrs G.Broadbent and Mr A.Young

Ingestre PCC Members: Mrs G.Broadbent, Mrs S. Haenelt and Mr A.

Tixall PCC Members:    Dr A.Andrews and Mr N.Bostock

            Dispensation granted 14.11.2012 Minute 37/12 1

HS2  houses potentially blighted: Mrs G.Broadbent, Mrs S. Haenelt and Mr A.Young

HS2  Land and/or Sporting Rights on proposed HS2 route: Mr N.Bostock & Mr M.Sindrey

            Dispensation granted 13.3.2013 Minute 7/13

6.  Complaints relating to this Code of Conduct

   Stafford BC have a duty to investigate any complaints concerning the Code of Conduct and any breaches will be dealt with by the Stafford BC Standards Committee composed entirely of Borough Councillors.

   Four Parish Council representatives and an Independent person may attend, but not vote. The independent person may be consulted by the member complained about.   However, there are no statutory sanctions which can be applied, they can only recommend that the Parish Council censure the member and it is then up to the electorate at the next election.

7. Offences

It is a criminal offence to

·        Fail to notify the Monitoring Officer of any disclosable pecuniary interest within 28 days of election

·        Fail to disclose a disclosable pecuniary interest at a meeting if it is not on the register

·        Fail to notify the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of a disclosable pecuniary interest that is not on the register that they have disclosed to a meeting

·        Participate in any discussion or vote on a matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

·        Knowingly or recklessly providing information that is false or misleading in notifying the Monitoring Officer of a disclosable pecuniary interest or in disclosing such interest to a meeting.

The criminal penalties available to a court are to impose a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale and disqualification from being a councillor for up to 5 years.

Appendix A   Disclosable pecuniary Interests, DPI, described in the table below.

*’director’ includes a member of the committee of management of an industrial and provident society.

*’securities’ means shares, debentures, debenture stock, loan stock, bonds, units of a collective investment scheme within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and other securities of any description, other than money deposited with a building society.

Appendix B  Other Interests

An interest which relates to or is likely to affect:

(i)           any body of which the member is in a position of general control or management and to which he/she is appointed or nominated by the Council;

(ii)         any body—

(a)         exercising functions of a public nature;

(b)         directed to charitable purposes; or

(c)         one of whose principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union)

of which the member of the Council is a member or in a position of general control or management;

(iii)        any gifts or hospitality worth more than an estimated value of £50 which the member has received by virtue of his or her office.