To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2009.

To report progress against the data quality action plan 2008 / 09 and the plan for the next 12 months.

To outline the Action Plan that the Planning Obligations Manager will undertake in the next six months in developing a monitoring system for section 106 Agreements.

To present the external auditor’s Audit Opinion Plan to the Committee.

To report to the Committee on the Review of Procurement undertaken by the Audit Commission.

To report to the Committee on the project plan for implementing International Financial Reporting Standards.

To seek the Committee’s approval of the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2008/09.

To provide the Committee with the Chief Internal Auditor’s final audit assurance report for 2008/09.

To inform the Committee of the work to be undertaken for 2009/10 financial year by the Audit Commission.