Register of interests

Under the Localism Act 2011 and our Local Code of Conduct, all elected ward members (councillors) of Central Bedfordshire Council and town and parish councillors are required, within 28 days of their election or appointment to office, to submit a declaration of their interests. It is an offence to omit any information that ought to be declared, to provide false or misleading information or to not update this information in a timely manner.

Declarations must be submitted to the Monitoring Officer. As well as including any information relevant to the councillor who has been elected or appointed to office, they must also include any information relevant to their spouse or anyone they live with who they regard as their spouse or civil partner.

Declaration categories

Declarations fall into a range of categories:

Employment

Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation undertaken for profit or gain. We ask councillors to provide either brief details of their business or a short description of their job e.g. "teacher", "nurse", "computer operator" or "accountant".

Sponsorship

Any payment (other than from Central Bedfordshire Council) in respect of any expenses incurred carrying out duties as a councillor, or towards election expenses. This includes any payment from a trade union and/or from a political party.

Contracts

Any contract for the supply of goods, services or works between Central Bedfordshire Council and the councillor or a firm/company of which they are a partner or remunerated director.

Land

All property the councillor owns, leases or rents within Central Bedfordshire.

Licences

Any licence to occupy land in Central Bedfordshire for a month or longer.

Tenancies

Any tenancy where the landlord is Central Bedfordshire Council and the tenant is a body in which the councillor has a beneficial interest.

Securities

Shares and stocks or units of a collective investment scheme in a body where it has a place of business within Central Bedfordshire and the total nominal value is greater than £25,000 or one-hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or if the share capital of that body is more than one class, the total nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the councillor has a beneficial interest which exceeds one-hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class.

Other registrable interests

Including any gifts or hospitality received. Ward councillors and co-opted committee members must advise of any with an estimated value of at least £25. For town and parish councillors, the value is at least £50.

Other bodies

Bodies to which the councillor has been appointed or nominated by Central Bedfordshire Council as its representative.

Public authorities or bodies exercising functions of a public nature.

Appointment to charitable bodies.

Appointment to bodies whose principal purposes include the influence of public opinion or policy.

Timescales

All councillors must make these declarations within 28 days of their election or appointment but if their circumstances change, they must also update their declarations within 28 days of becoming aware of those changes. Any such failure to produce a declaration of interest or to update one in a timely manner is an offence under the Localism Act 2011.

Sensitive interests

Copies of the register of interests which are published do not include details of any sensitive interest, other than stating that the individual has an interest the details of which are withheld. A sensitive interest is one which the individual and the monitoring officer both consider could lead to the individual or or a person connected to that individual, being subject to violence or intimidation if it were published.