Leeds City Councillors and voting co-opted members of the Council must provide a list of their disclosable pecuniary interests within 28 days of their election or appointment to the Council.
Disclosable pecuniary interests are:
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any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation
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any sponsorship of the member, including contributions towards their election expenses and payments or financial benefits from a trade union
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any contracts between the member and the authority
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any land the member has an interest in and lies within the area of the authority
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any licences the member holds to occupy land in the area
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any corporate tenancies
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certain securities they hold
Members are also required to list the disclosable pecuniary interests of their spouse or civil partner, or person with whom they are living as if they were their spouse or civil partner.
Register of interests
These disclosable pecuniary interests are recorded in the register of interests which is published on our website. You can view the register of interests for each Councillor through their individual profile. Simply
choose the relevant Councillor from the list, and then follow the link to their register of interests.
You can also view the register of interests entries for voting co-opted members of the Council through the
relevant Committee page.
Gifts and hospitality
This register of interests also includes the details of any gifts or hospitality a Member has received which was worth over £50 and received in their capacity as a Councillor. However these rules do not apply to civic gifts or hospitality received by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, and all such declarations are removed after two years.
Members can also add any other significant interests they wish to register in the public interest.
Parish and Town Councils
We publish the register of interests for each
Parish and Town Council in Leeds on our website. Parish and Town Councillors are required by law to register their disclosable pecuniary interests, but may have chosen not to include gifts and hospitality or to add further categories of interest. For more details of their individual requirements you should ask the Clerk for a copy of their Code of Conduct.
Declaration of disclosable pecuniary interests in meetings
If a Councillor or voting co-opted member has a disclosable pecuniary interest in an item during a formal meeting of the Council, they must:
- declare or draw attention to their interest at the meeting
- not participate in any discussion of the matter
- not vote on the matter, and
- leave the room during the discussion or vote
The
declarations made during meetings are recorded on our website, as well as in the minutes of the meeting.
It is a potential criminal offence if a member fails to comply with the rules regarding their disclosable pecuniary interests without reasonable excuse. Complaints about these matters are dealt with by West Yorkshire Police.
