New rules to ensure greater town hall transparency
Tough new measures that crack down on genuine corruption and increase transparency in public life by requiring councillors to declare their 바카라 사이트¦
Tough new measures that crack down on genuine corruption and increase transparency in public life by requiring councillors to declare their financial and trade union dealings will take effect next week, Local 바카라 사이트 Minister Bob Neill announced today.
In the drive for greater transparency across all 바카라 사이트, from 1 July, councillors will be required to register certain pecuniary interests, including trade union dealings on a publicly available register. Deliberate failure to declare interests could result in a criminal conviction.
These new measures, outlined in the Localism Act, will replace the bureaucratic and controversial Standards Board regime, which ministers believe had become a system of nuisance complaints and petty, sometimes malicious, allegations of councillor misconduct that sapped public confidence in local democracy. The old regime also raised concerns that it discouraged councillors from whistle-blowing or criticising waste and inefficiency in local government, as it opened them up to complaints by local authority officers.
Local 바카라 사이트 Minister Bob Neill said:
The Standards Board regime led to an explosion in petty, partisan and malicious complaints that dragged down the reputation of local government, as well as suppressing freedom of speech.
Our reforms take a tough stance on council corruption by making serious misconduct a criminal offence, accompanied by the sunlight of transparency on financial and union interests. Such reforms will give local people the confidence that councillors are putting local residents바카라 사이트™ interests first.
Notes to Editors
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The new arrangements coming into force on 1 July include a code of conduct based on 바카라 사이트˜Nolan principles바카라 사이트™, the involvement of an independent person in allegations of misconduct, a register of members바카라 사이트™ pecuniary interests, and a new criminal offence for failing to declare or register pecuniary interests.
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The register of interests regulations in force from 1 July for local authority members are in the Localism Act (sections 29 to 34) which received Royal Assent last November.
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The regulations set out the rules for disclosure and registration of pecuniary interests, which may limit a councillor바카라 사이트™s involvement with the business of the authority, where failure to comply with the rules without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, punishable with a fine of up to £5,000 and disqualification from office for up to five years.
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Pecuniary interests cover the member바카라 사이트™s 바카라 사이트˜employment, office, trade, profession or vocation바카라 사이트™, any 바카라 사이트˜sponsorship바카라 사이트™ of the member, including contributions towards their election expenses, any 바카라 사이트˜contracts바카라 사이트™ between the member and the authority, any 바카라 사이트˜land바카라 사이트™ the member has an interest in and lies within the area of the authority, any 바카라 사이트˜licences바카라 사이트™ the member holds to occupy land in the area, any 바카라 사이트˜corporate tenancies바카라 사이트™, and certain 바카라 사이트˜securities바카라 사이트™ the member may hold.
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The new arrangements explicitly state any payment or financial benefit from a trade union must also be declared.
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The new arrangements reflect the 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트™s policy that elected representatives should continue to declare financial interests in an open and transparent way, to avoid conflicts of interest especially on issues such as planning applications or financially benefiting from the issuing of council contracts.