Gifts and Hospitality
27.1 Elected Members and Officers are advised to treat with extreme caution any offer or gift, favour or hospitality which is made to them personally.
27.2 Elected Members should also be very cautious about accepting gifts and hospitality. The Code of Conduct requires any Elected Members receiving any gift or hospitality, in their capacity as members, over the value of £25, to provide within 28 days of its receipt written notification of the details to the Monitoring Officer of the Council. Such details will go in a register of gifts and hospitality, which will be open to inspection by the public.
27.3 Similarly, Officers, during the course of carrying out their duties, may be offered hospitality from people with an interest in a planning proposal. Wherever possible, such offers should be declined politely. If the receipt of hospitality is unavoidable, Officers should ensure that it is of the minimal level and declare its receipt as soon as possible. Declarations of receipt of gifts and hospitality will be reviewed regularly by the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
27.4 The presumption should be that any gift is normally refused.