Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report on the current arrangements for the acceptance and registration of gifts and hospitality by Officers and Members and to review the current financial limits for registration.

As part of the Forward Work Programme, Standards Committee had agreed to carry out a review of the current arrangements for registration of gifts and hospitality by Officers and Members, to review the current financial threshold for registration of member gifts and hospitality and to consider whether any further guidance was required. 

The statutory Code of Conduct for Local Government Employees (which currently excluded fire-fighters and teachers) provided that all employees must comply with any rules of their relevant Authority on the declaration by employees on hospitality or gifts offered to or received by them from any person or organisation doing or seeking to do business or otherwise benefiting or seeking to benefit from a relationship with the Authority. Qualifying employees must not accept benefits from a third party unless authorised to do so by their relevant Authority.

Qualifying employees of relevant Authorities must also ensure that they used public funds entrusted  to them in a responsible and lawful manner, and must not utilise property, vehicles or other facilities of the Authority for personal use unless authorised             to do so.

Section 14 of the Council’s Employee Code of Conduct detailed all the requirements in this respect.

The Employees Register of Gifts and Hospitality and the Members’ register were both open to public inspection. There was no specified financial limit for the registration of Officers’ gifts and hospitality but the Council had previously specified a de minimis level of £80 for the registration of Members’ gifts and hospitality. Gifts and hospitality valued at less than £80 did not need to be registered, although this did not mean that anything of less value should be accepted.

The Employee Code of Conduct provided more guidance for Officers in relation to the acceptance of gifts and hospitality. It was being suggested that Standards Committee could consider that there would be benefit in the Council adopting a similar protocol to provide further guidance and advice for Members, to supplement the provisions in the Code of Conduct. A draft Protocol was also considered.

In response to a question the Monitoring Officer confirmed that School Governing Bodies were responsible for agreeing procedures for the registration of lists of Gifts and Hospitality as far as Teachers and other school employees were concerned.

Members gave detailed consideration to all aspects of this matter and, in particular, the gifts and hospitality threshold for Members as detailed  in the Appendix referring to Welsh Local Authorities and the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, all of whom had thresholds of far lesser amounts than the current value of £80 for Newport which had been agreed by this Committee in 2005. The Monitoring Officer referred members to the Appendix of the report which detailed Officers Gifts and Hospitality which only referred to Corporate Service areas despite all Service Areas being asked to supply information. There should be similar registers of gifts and hospitality to those retained in Corporate Services.

Agreed

1. That Standards Committee concerns regarding the lack of responses from non Corporate Service area be noted and they be further requested to provide information on Gifts and Hospitality.

2. That School Governing Bodies be requested to review their practice regarding Gifts and Hospitality, if necessary, to reflect that adopted by the Council.

3. That the threshold of £80 for Members to register gifts and hospitality be reduced to £25.

4. That Committee members be requested to further consider the proposed protocol for Members Gifts and Hospitality and submit comments to Officers by 31 August, 2015 (to enable the agreed Protocol to be submitted to Council in September, 2015