Gifts and hospitality
7.1 Elected Members and Officers must never accept any gift or consideration as an inducement for doing or forbearing to do anything in their roles as Councillors or Officers of the Authority. In the case of Officers accepting any such gift or consideration from anyone who has or is seeking a contract with the Authority, the gift or consideration is deemed to have been accepted corruptly unless the officer can prove the contrary. It is therefore very important to be completely open about any significant gift or hospitality to avoid the suspicion of misconduct.
7.2 Elected Members are required by the Elected Members Code of Conduct to register in the Register of Members’ Interests:
Any person from whom they have received within the previous three years a gift or hospitality with an estimated value of more than £25 which is attributable to their position as an elected or co-opted member of the Authority.
7.3 Officers are required to disclose offers and receipts of gifts and hospitality which must be appropriately recorded in a Register of Gifts and Hospitality.
7.4 A particular issue arises for Officers seconded to work on outside bodies, as section 117(2) of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that an Officer shall not, through his office or employment, accept any fee or reward whatsoever other than his/her proper remuneration. Where an Officer is to be seconded and might be in receipt of any remuneration, bonus or allowances from the Authority to which he/she is to be seconded, the seconding Authority must agree that his/her proper remuneration shall henceforth include any remuneration, bonus or allowances paid to the officer by the body to which he/she is seconded.