Disclosure of outside interests for Officers
Declaration of Interests
6.1 Section 117(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 requires that if it comes to the knowledge of any Officer of a Local Authority that the Authority has entered or proposes to enter into any contract in which he/she has a pecuniary interest, whether or not he/she would actually be a party to the contract, he/she must give notice in writing to the Authority. A pecuniary interest should be interpreted as any circumstance in which he/she or a member of his/her immediate family stand to gain or lose financially as a result of the contract.
Conflicts of interest
6.2 Where an Officer has been appointed to an outside body by the Council and a conflict of interest arises, this should always be disclosed to the Officer’s immediate manager who should, in appropriate cases, seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer. Such conflicts may be dealt with in a number of different ways, depending on the nature and seriousness of the conflict. If the conflict is insubstantial then it should simply be recorded and no further action need be taken. Where there is a discrete conflict this may preclude the officer from undertaking a particular discrete task, such as dealing with the administration of a planning application, but would not be incompatible with the general performance of their job. In the case of a more serious incompatible conflict it may be determined that the nature of the conflict of interest is such that the officer must resign their position on the outside body and/or re-arrange their duties in a manner which avoids the conflict.