1.3 Participation
If you have a declarable interest then, under Stage 3, you cannot participate in any discussion or voting on the matter. You should declare the interest as early as possible and must leave the room; it is not sufficient to move to the back of the room or a public gallery. If the meeting is online, you should move to a separate breakout room or leave and rejoin after the discussion has concluded. This is both to ensure that you do not influence other members and to avoid any perception that you could be doing so.
Specific exceptions
Membership of an outside body
As explained in Section 1.1 of this course, being appointed or nominated by the Council to represent it on an outside body does not usually constitute a connection under Stage 1 that might lead to a declarable interest under Stage 2. The exceptions are:
if the matter is quasi-judicial or regulatory in nature and the outside body is the applicant or an objector
or
if you have an additional personal conflict.
Participating in budget decisions
You should consider whether you have a connection to the Council’s budget arising from a personal circumstance. If so, you must apply the objective test and consider whether the connection is so significant, relative to the overall budget, that it would reasonably be regarded as likely to influence your decision-making.
A declarable interest may arise, for example, if a budget decision could directly affect your partner’s employment or a business you own.
For the overall budget, being in receipt of a benefit available to the wider public (such as a carer’s allowance) would not amount to a declarable interest.
If the budget is divided into specific parts or lines, you may need to withdraw only for the relevant section. If no declarable interest exists but members of the public might reasonably have concerns, a transparency statement may be appropriate.
1.2 Interest
