FOI request (FOIR-522080114)

Officers code of conduct - Declaration recording book

Requested Wed 07 June 2023
Responded  Thu 13 July 2023

The officer's code of conduct, dated April 2017, states that "(c) Membership of professional/voluntary bodies and conflicts of interest - You should declare membership of any professional body or organisation where your membership may appear to represent a conflict of interest or attract accusations of bias. This includes any private organisations whose membership is not totally open to the public. Any such membership must be recorded in the directorate's declaration reporting book."

(https://www.hastings.gov.uk/content/my_council/transparency/pdfs/code_of_conduct.pdf)

The officers code of conduct is to my best knowledge still live and has not been revised with the consent of Cabinet and Full Council.

Please provide details of the Directorate's declaration reporting book (DRB):

1. The last time the DRB was updated.

2. The number of officers who have recorded an entry in the DRB broken down into:

a. membership of organisations where membership may represent a conflict of interest.

b. membership of private organisations whose membership is not totally open to the public.

3. If usage of the DRB has lapsed, please provide a link/details of the Cabinet/Full council meeting that authorised that the DRB no longer be used to record officer's interests.

Response

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding.

A new audit of staff interests is underway. This project requires all staff to submit a return detailing any interests by 1st September 2023. A nil return is required. All responses will be held on a new electronic Smartsheet accessible by HR, Legal, Procurement and the Senior Leadership Team only.

1. Information not held

2a. Information not held

2b. Information not held

3. A Governance Review is also underway and part of this programme of work is to complete the review of the Officer Code of Conduct and publish the revised version in the Constitution. The Council will be asked to agree the revised Code of Conduct and the new process for auditing and maintaining officer's interests once complete.