Statutory Instruments
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND AND WALES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, SCOTLAND
Made
10th March 1992
Laid before Parliament
11th March 1992
Coming into force
8th May 1992
The Secretary of State for the Environment, as respects England, theSecretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, and the Secretary ofState for Scotland, as respects Scotland, in exercise of the powersconferred upon them by sections 19(1), (4)(b) and (6) and 190(1) of theLocal Government and Housing Act 1989(1) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations:—
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authorities (Members'Interests) Regulations 1992 and shall come into force on 8th May 1992.
2. In these Regulations—
“the 1972 Act” means the Local Government Act 1972(2);
“the 1973 Act” means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973(3)
“authority” means—
in relation to England and Wales,—
a county, district or London borough council, the Council of the Isles of Scilly, or
the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a localauthority, police authority or port health authority; and,
in relation to Scotland, a regional, islands or district council;
“councillor” means an elected member of an authority;
“director” includes a member of the committee of management of an industrial and provident society;
“land” excludes an easement, servitude, interest or right in or over land which does not carry with it a right for the councillor (alone orjointly with others) to occupy the land or to receive income; and
“securities” means securities within the meaning of section 98(1) of the 1972 Act and section 42(1) of the 1973 Act, other than moneys deposited with a building society.
3.—(1) Each councillor shall, in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3),give to the proper officer of the authority of which he is a member ageneral notice—
(a)stating his name; and
(b)setting out, for each matter listed in the first column of theSchedule to these Regulations in respect of which he has such a director indirect pecuniary interest as is described in the second column ofthat Schedule, the information prescribed in the said second column; and
(c)stating, for each other matter so listed, that he does not have suchan interest.
(2) A person who is a councillor both on and immediately before 8th May1992 shall give the general notice not later than one month after thedate on which he first (on or after that date) attends a relevantmeeting.
(3) A person who is elected as a member of an authority on or after 8thMay 1992 and was not already a councillor of that authority immediatelybefore the date of his election shall give the general notice not laterthan one month after—
(a)if he is a member of the Common Council of the City of London, thedate on which he first attends a relevant meeting after his election;and
(b)in any other case, the date on which he makes a declaration undersection 83(1) of the 1972 Act(4)or, as the case may be, section 33A of the 1973 Act(5)(declaration of acceptance of office).
(4) In this regulation, “relevant meeting” means a meeting of the authority of which the councillor is a member, or a meeting of any of the following of which he is a member, namely—
(a)a committee or sub-committee of the authority; or
(b)a joint committee, joint board or other body for the time beingdischarging any of the functions of the authority or appointed to advisethe authority on a matter relating to the discharge of their functions.
4. Each councillor shall, within one month of any change to theinformation contained in a notice given by him under these Regulations(including a notice under this regulation), give to the proper officerof the authority of which he is a member a further notice setting outthe details of that change.
5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the proper officer of an authority shallmaintain records, as prescribed in paragraph (2), of the informationcontained in the notices given to him under regulations 3 and 4.
(2) The records shall consist of—
(a)the date on which the proper officer received the notice;
(b)the name of the councillor who gave the notice; and
(c)the notice or a copy of it or a statement of the informationcontained in it.
(3) Paragraph (1) shall apply to information given by a councillor onlyfor so long as he continues to be a member of the authority in question.
6. The proper officer shall keep the records open to inspection bymembers of the public without charge at all reasonable hours.
Michael Heseltine
Secretary of State for the Environment
9th March 1992
David Hunt
Secretary of State for Wales
9th March 1992
Ian Lang
Secretary of State for Scotland
10th March 1992
Regulation 3(1)
| Employment, office, trade, profession or vocation | 1. A description of any employment, office, trade, profession orvocation carried on by the councillor for profit or gain. 2. The name of the person who employs him or, as the case may be, appointedhim to the office, or the name of any firm in which he is a partner. |
| Sponsorship | 3. The name of any person (other than a local authority) who has, notearlier than one year before the date the councillor gives the relevantnotice under these Regulations, made a payment to the councillor inrespect of— (a)any expenses incurred by the councillor in carrying out his duties asa councillor; or (b)his election as a councillor. |
| Contracts | 4. A description of any contract of which the councillor is aware(including its duration, but excluding the consideration)— (a)which is made between the councillor (or a firm in which he is apartner, or a body corporate of which he is a director or in thesecurities of which he has a beneficial interest) and the authority ofwhich he is a member; (b)under which goods or services are to be provided or works are to beexecuted; and (c)which has not been fully discharged. |
| Land | 5. The address or other description of any land (sufficient toidentify the land) in which the councillor has a beneficial interest andwhich is in the area of the authority of which he is a member. |
| Licences | 6. The address or other description of land (sufficient to identifythe land) which the councillor has— (a)in England and Wales, a licence (alone or jointly with others), or (b)in Scotland, by informal arrangements, permission, to occupy for a month or longer and which is in the area of the authorityof which he is a member. |
| Corporate Tenancies | 7. The address or other description of land (sufficient to identify the land) Tenancies held under a tenancy where (to the councillor’s knowledge)— (a)the landlord is the authority of which the councillor is a member; and (b)the tenant is a body corporate of which the councillor is a director orin the securities of which he has a beneficial interest or is a firm in whichhe is a partner. |
| Interests in securities | 8. The name of any body corporate where— (a)that body (to the councillor’s knowledge) has a place of business orland in the area of the authority of which he is a member; and (b)the councillor has a beneficial interest in the securities of that bodywhere— (i)the total nominal value of the securities in which he has a beneficialinterest exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued sharecapital of that body; or, (ii)if the share capital of that body is of more than one class, the totalnominal value of the shares of any one class in which he has a beneficialinterest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of thatclass. |
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations require each elected member of a county, districtor London borough council, the Council of the Isles of Scilly or theCommon Council of the City of London (in England and Wales) or of aregional, islands or district council (in Scotland) to give the properofficer of the council a notice about his direct and indirect pecuniaryinterests. The notice must contain the information about his pecuniaryinterests prescribed by regulation 3 and the Schedule (or state that hehas no such interest) and must be given within the period specified inthat regulation. Regulation 4 requires members to keep the informationup to date. Regulations 5 and 6 require the proper officer of eachcouncil to maintain records of the information and to keep the recordsopen to public inspection.
By virtue of section 19(2) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989,a member of a local authority who fails without reasonable excuse to complywith the requirements of these Regulations, or who knowingly or recklesslyprovides false or misleading information in a notice under these Regulations,is guilty of an offence.
1972 c. 70; section 98(1) was amended by the FinancialServices Act 1986 (c. 60), Schedule 16, paragraph 8.
1973 c. 65; section 42(1) was amended by the FinancialServices Act 1986, Schedule 16, paragraph 9.
Section 83 was amended by S.I. 1977/1710, the LocalGovernment Act 1985 (c. 51), Schedule 17, the Education Reform Act 1988(c.40), Schedule 13 and the Local Government and Housing Act 1989(c.42), section 30(2).
Section 33A was inserted by the Local Government and HousingAct 1989, section 30(1).