Code of Conduct
Document Control
Document No. POL-P03
Adoption Date Jul 2012
Last Review Date May 2025
Next Review Date May 2026
Parish Office
Whittle Hall Community Centre
Lonsdale Close
Great Sankey www.greatsankeypc.org.uk
Warrington enquiries@gs-pc.net
WA5 3UA 01925 712279
GSPC Code of Conduct
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS
The Code has been adopted under section 27 of the Localism Act 2011 and is based on the
following core principles of public life – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability,
openness, honesty and leadership. It sets out general obligations about the standards of
conduct expected of members and co-opted members of the authority, together with
provisions about registering and declaring interests.
A General obligations
Whenever you are acting as a member or co-opted member of this authority you must
act in accordance with the following obligations:
Selflessness
1 You must act solely in the public interest and must never use or attempt to use your
position improperly to confer and advantage or disadvantage on any person or act to
gain financial or other material benefits for yourself, your family, friends or close
associates.
Integrity
2 You must not place yourself under a financial or other obligation to outside individuals or
organisations that might seek to influence you in the performance of your official duties.
You should exercise independent judgement. Although you may take account of the
views of others (including a political group) you should reach your own conclusions on
the issues before you and act in accordance with those conclusions.
Objectivity
3 When carrying out your public duties you must make all choices, such as making public
appointments, awarding contracts or recommending individuals for rewards or benefits,
on merit.
You should remain objective, listen to the interests of all parties appropriately and
impartially and take all relevant information, including advice from the authority’s
officers, into consideration.
Accountability
4 You are accountable to the public for your decisions and you must co-operate fully with
whatever scrutiny is appropriate, including by local residents.
Openness
5 (a) You must be as open and transparent as possible about your decisions and actions
and the decisions and actions of your authority. You should be prepared to give reasons
for those decisions and actions. You must not prevent anyone getting information that
they are entitled to by law.
(b) Where the law or the wider public interest requires it, you must not disclose
confidential information or information to which public access is restricted.
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Honesty
6 (a) You must declare any private interests, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, that
relate to your public duties and must take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way
that protects the public interest, including registering and declaring interests as set out in
Section B below.
(b) You must only use or authorise the use of the authority’s resources in accordance
with the authority’s requirements. You must, when using or authorising the use by others
of such resources, ensure that they are used for proper purposes only. Resources must
not be used improperly for political purposed (including party political purposes) and you
must have regard to any applicable Local Authority Code of Publicity made under the
Local Government Act 1986.
Respect for others
7 (a) You must treat others with respect. You should engage with colleagues and staff in a
manner that underpins mutual respect, essential to good local government.
(b) You must not do anything which may cause your authority to breach any equality
laws.
(c) You must not compromise or attempt to compromise the impartiality of anyone who
works for, or on behalf of, the authority
(d) You must not bully any person, including other councillors, officers of the authority or
members of the public.
Leadership
8 You must promote and support high standards of conduct when serving as member or
co-opted member of the authority, by leadership and example, championing the
interests of the community.
You should uphold the law and, on all occasions, act in accordance with the trust that
the public is entitled to place in you.
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B. Registering and declaring pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests
1 Registration and declaration of interests shall be made in accordance with the Relevant
Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012.
Excerpt from CLG text:
You must, within 28 days of taking office as a member or co-opted member, notify your
authority’s monitoring officer of any disclosable pecuniary interest as defined by
regulations made by the Secretary of State, where the pecuniary interest is yours, your
spouse’s or civil partner’s, or is the pecuniary interest of somebody with whom you are
living with as a husband or wife, or as if you were civil partners.
In addition, you must, within 28 days of taking office as a member or co-opted member,
notify you authority’s monitoring officer of any disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary
interest which your authority has decided should be included in the register.
If an interest has not been entered onto the authority’s register, then you must disclose the
interest to any meeting of the authority at which you are present, where you have a
disclosable interest in any matter being considered and where the matter is not a
‘sensitive interest’.*
Following any disclosure of an interest not on the authority’s register or the subject of
pending notification, you must notify the monitoring officer of the interest within 28 days
beginning with the date of disclosure.
Unless dispensation has been granted, you may not participate in any discussion of, vote on,
or discharge any function related to any matter in which you have a pecuniary interest
as defined by regulations made by the Secretary of State. Additionally, you must
observe the restrictions your authority places on your involvement in matters where you
have a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest as defined by your authority.
*A ‘sensitive interest’ is described in the Localism Act 2011 as a member or co-opted member of an
authority having an interest, and the nature of the interest being such that the member or co-
opted member, and the authority’s monitoring officer, consider that disclosure of the details of the
interest could lead to the member or co-opted member, or a person connected with the member
or co-opted member, being subject to violence or intimidation.
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