The Council has published details of an interim scheme which it believes will prevent a repetition of the recent scandal over unlawful payments to officials.

Ironically the proposal was agreed in another “behind closed doors” decision session earlier today. The background papers were only made public after the decision had been made.

It has published a new code which can be read by clicking here

The form that senior officials will have to keep up to date – and publish publicly – can be found by clicking here .

The Code list sevral areas where a potential conflict of interest may occur

The following is a list of situations that may result in a conflict of interests for a member of staff:

• A planning application or appeal in which the address concerned is the employee’s residence or a neighbouring address;
• Ownership of land that is subject to a Council decision;
• School admissions appeals involving a friend or relative;
• A contract between the Council and another organisation in which the employee has a personal or financial interest(including council-owned or other related parties to the council). Any pay received from related parties must be declared;
• Processing of Council Tax payments/refunds where the employee is the landlord of the properties concerned;
• Benefits applications/appeals in which the claimant is a friend/relative or neighbour;
• Processing of home or residential care cases where the customer is a friend or relative;
• An audit of an establishment in which the employee has a personal interest (e.g. Elderly Persons’ Home where a relative is a member of staff).

Further refinements to the rules are promised at a later date.