Declarations of interest

Question

On a recent perusal through my local PC's web site I notice the obligatory link to the local authorities public declarations of interest of councillors and to my astonishment note on reading, that at least 50% of the home/land owning councillors do not, in both interest requirements, declare either that ownership by themselves or partners. Any comments as to why this is allowed to happen without challenge?

Answer 1

There is not really anything to challenge (or rather no one to do the challenging).

It it the councillors personal responsibility to declare their interests. To not do so, or to do so incompletely, they commit a criminal offence.

Monitoring officers will only investigate specific breaches that are alerted to them (if you are lucky). They don't proactively monitor who has submitted forms and who hasn't and they certainly don't cross reference land register data.
Most members of the public don't get involved with their PC and even those that do most would not even be aware of the rules on declarations of interests.

Ps - Am i the only one who hates the new forum design?

Comments

I don't hate the design but I certainly prefer the original format.

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Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine!

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Agree but needs tweaking by having the log in button fixed to the right edge so you don't have to scroll right to the top to log in to comment.

Answer 2

It is possible to ask for that information to be redacted but I'm not sure how many do that.  I believe the grounds are on safety/security so armed forces membership is one reason I know has been given but my understanding is that this has to be a proactive application not just an omission on the form.  if anyone complains, the MO will simply advise the councillor to amend the form or possibly attend retraining but few do and there are no sanctions for not undertaking the training.

Comments

I have two councillors whose addresses cannot be placed in the public domain. One had a high-profile role in a recent military campaign and the other fosters vulnerable young people. They complete a full declaration, but when I submit it to the MO, I ask for the address details to be redacted.

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The comments on redaction are of course valid for reasons given and it seems the declaration form has not kept pace with modern society and it's problems and allowing for withholding information because of serious concern on security should be given and noted as redacted when registered thus alleviating questions  during meetings on false declarations. Too easy for the form to just be photocopied to the authorities website in this day and age.