Agenda item
Gifts and Hospitality Policy and Procedures
Whilst reviewing all of our HR policies and procedures, the opportunity has been taken to update the current Gifts and Hospitality policy, in line with legal changes and best practice. This report provides details of the proposed new gifts and hospitality policy which will replace the current policy and the supporting operational arrangements.
Minutes:
A report introducing an updated Gifts and Hospitality Policy for the committee’s consideration and approval, was presented by Cara Davani (HR Director). The draft policy, attached at appendix 1 to the report, had been updated to incorporate legislative changes; namely, those introduced by The Bribery Act 2010. It was required by the Bribery Acts, that there be the widest coverage of staff involved in delivering council services; accordingly, the policy would, in future, apply to agency and interim staff.
Cara Davani explained that the proposed policy provided greater clarity on the type of function/hospitality/gift which could or could not be accepted and drew members’ attention to key changes. It was noted that the policy no longer distinguished between what had to be declared and what had to be both declared and authorised by a manager; rather, under the new policy anything declared also required managerial authorisation. Members were further advised that the introduction of the revised policy would be supported by an electronic recording system, which would facilitate regular monitoring. Audit and Investigations would be responsible for monitoring the application of the policy on an annual basis. The online register would be reviewed by the Audit team and any concerns would be raised with the operational directors to ensure proper and consistent use of the policy. It was proposed that, if approved, the policy would become live on 17 February 2014 to allow sufficient time for feedback following a managers’ briefing.
In the subsequent discussion, a member queried whether the council would publish the online register of staff declarations. The committee also sought clarification regarding the process for tickets occasionally provided to the Council by Wembley Stadium and allocated by ballot to staff. It was commented that tickets from Wembley Stadium were only provided when an event had not sold out and were marked as £0 value. It was further queried whether staff, for whom it was necessary as part of their role to attend particular events such as cultural or sporting events, would be required to declare and receive authorisation in respect of these. A member noted that the policy allowed for gifts to be accepted in particular cases where refusal might otherwise cause offence, for example those provided by overseas delegates where the norm was to give a gift. The member sought further detail regarding the types of gifts that might be permitted in these circumstances.
Cara Davani advised that the council was not obliged to publish the register. It was agreed that staff should not be required to make individual declarations for Wembley Stadium tickets obtained via ballot. Instead, a single declaration on behalf of the council could be made; the question of who would make this single declaration would need to be addressed and the policy amended accordingly. The policy allowed for staff attending events as part of their role; these required management approval and must be recorded on the register. Conrad Hall (Chief Finance Officer) explained that if an individual officer was unclear whether a gift should be accepted, the issue should be escalated to the relevant manager. Decisions would be made on a case by case basis and it was expected that officers would err on the side of caution when doing so.
RESOLVED:
(i) that the revised Gifts and Hospitality Policy and Procedures be approved subject to the following amendment:
a. That staff should not be required to make individual declarations for tickets provided to the council by Wembley Stadium and distributed to staff via ballot.
(ii) that the HR Director, in consultation with the Leader and the relevant trade unions, be authorised to make such other changes as may be necessary from time to time to the Gifts and Hospitality policy and associated procedures to ensure they remain relevant and ‘fit for purpose’.
Supporting documents:
- gp_21-01-14_report_gifts_and_hospitality__v4, item 9. PDF 76 KB
- gp_21-01-14_appendix_gifts_and_hospitality_v.7, item 9. PDF 269 KB