Agenda item

To consider the report (attached).

S Tautz, Democratic Services Manager, was in attendance.

A full review of the Constitution had been undertaken in 2016/17 which had led to the current Constitution. However, it had always been the intention of the Working Group to review gifts and hospitality separately.

During the last municipal year Internal Audit had reviewed both aspects of gifts and hospitality, for members and staff. Overall the current arrangements were operating well as members were required to provide full details of gifts and hospitality received by keeping their Register of Interests form up to date and were reminded through regular training. However, the audit had identified that the existing gifts and hospitality guidance for members needed to be updated, published in the Council’s Constitution and that members were informed to ensure full compliance with the Member Code of Conduct.

The guidance update required reference to the Bribery Act 2010. This had not been covered previously, as the existing guidance had been adopted by Council in 2007. The audit also specified that the current gifts and hospitality value of £25 in the guidance, should be amended to match the figure of £50 specified on the Register of Interests form. After benchmarking with other local authorities, the Chief Internal Auditor recommended £50 was an appropriate level for the declaration of gifts and hospitality.

The revised guidance was set out at Appendix 1 to the agenda report. This also encompassed the registration of declined gifts and hospitality and to inform the Monitoring Officer, N Boateng, if the limits were exceeded. The Monitoring Officer and Chief Internal Auditor had reviewed this guidance, as well as the Corporate Governance Group and members of the Standards Committee.

Members were asked to consider the guidance before them so that the Working Group’s recommendations could be made at the next Council meeting on 30 July 2019.

Councillor C C Pond remarked on the uncertainty of the value of a gift or hospitality when he attended events, such as the Corporation of London that extended invites to those that had wards within Epping Forest. S Tautz replied that the guidance accepted and handled this under (4) General Consent to Accept Gifts and Hospitality, specifically at (4.6) What if I do not know the value of a gift or hospitality?

The Chairman, Councillor S Jones, advised it was essential that gifts or hospitality were declared and that the monetary value was as accurate as possible, or what was a reasonable amount.

Councillor H Kane commented that members’ circumstances might change and that not a lot of people realised they needed to complete a new Declaration of Interests form, and asked how members could be encouraged to update their declaration. S Tautz agreed and emphasised to members that the legislation allowed members only 28 days to update their Register of Interest or Disclosable Pecuniary Interest forms. Code of Conduct training was organised twice a year for this reason, to reinforce this message that was a key aspect of the training, and from a ‘standards’ point of view to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by councillors.

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked if the existing Declarations of Interest form could just be amended, to which S Tautz indicated that the Council’s arrangements required that a new form be submitted each time a change occurred.

Councillor J Philip suggested keeping the Declarations of Interest form as a Word document, which could be more easily updated when necessary. It would be helpful if members were sent a new form every year to update. S Tautz replied that the Council could not require a new form each year, but indicated that this was best practice.

Councillor C C Pond advised asking the Monitoring Officer if a new form was required every year. County councillors could send amendments to ECC Democratic Services Officers to update their forms.

Councillor C C Pond remarked that some members had been nonplussed about being asked to sign the Related Party Transactions by Democratic Services Officers at recent meetings. S Tautz replied that the Related Party Transaction process had been undertaken by the Council in this way for a number of years and was an end of financial year requirement by the Chief Finance Officer.

Councillor S Kane asked if at (4.1) (iv) small gifts of low intrinsic value below £25 branded with the name of the company etc. and at 4.1 (vii) modest souvenir gifts with a value below £25 from another Council etc. could read £50. S Tautz replied that he could correct this discrepancy if members would allow officers to revise the report appropriately to ensure consistency, which was agreed.

Councillor C C Pond asked if members should try and refuse gifts/hospitality. Councillor J Philip replied that a member could reciprocate an offer, e.g. to buy another coffee, if you had just been bought one. It was about getting a balance so it wasn’t the same person buying a drink (hospitality) all the time. S Tautz supported Councillor Philip’s advice to return the offer of buying a drink and therefore, purely reciprocating only.

            RESOLVED:

(1)          That the report be noted and agreed, subject to the £25 gift values given in (4.1), Members may accept gifts and hospitality in the following circumstances, at bullet points (iv) and (vii) be revised to £50 to ensure consistency;

(2)          That Member Services send all members new Declarations of Interest and Disclosable Pecuniary Interests forms after elections to reinforce best practice;

(3)          That S Tautz check with the Monitoring Officer whether a member needed to submit a new Declaration of Interest or Disclosable Pecuniary Interest form each time an update was made; and

(4)          That the draft member guidance on gifts and hospitality be recommended to Council for adoption on 30 July 2019.