THE WEST OXFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL CODE OF CONDUCT
CODE OF CONDUCT
1. This code of conduct is adopted pursuant to the council’s duty to promote and maintain
high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members1
of the council.
2. This code applies to you as a member or co-opted member of this council when you act
in that role and it is your responsibility to comply with the provisions of this code.
Selflessness
3. You must serve only the public interest and must never improperly confer an advantage
or disadvantage on any person including yourself.
Objectivity
4. In carrying out public business you must make decisions on merit, including when making
appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards or benefits.
Accountability
5. You are accountable for your decisions and actions to the public and must submit
yourself to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to your office.
Openness
6. You must be as open as possible about your actions and those of your council, and must
be prepared to give reasons for those actions.
Honesty and integrity
7. You must not place yourself in situations where your honesty and integrity may be
questioned, must not behave improperly and must on all occasions avoid the appearance
of such behaviour.
Leadership
8. You must promote and support high standards of conduct when serving in your public
post, in particular as characterised by the above requirements, by leadership and example
in a way that secures or preserves public confidence.
General Obligations
9. You must treat others with respect and ensure that you are aware of and comply with all
legal obligations that apply to you as a member or co-opted member of the council and
act within the law;
A “co-opted member” for the purpose of this code is, as defined in the Localism Act section 27 (4) “a person
who is not a member of the council but who
a) is a member of any committee or sub-committee of the council, or
b) is a member of, and represents the council on, any joint committee or joint sub-committee of the
council; and who is entitled to vote on any question that falls to be decided at any meeting of that committee or sub
committee”.
10. You must not bully any person.
11. You must not do anything that compromises or is likely to compromise the impartiality
of those who work for, or on behalf of the council.
12. You must not disclose information given to you in confidence by anyone, or information
acquired by you of which you are aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, is of a
confidential nature except where:
(i) you have the consent of a person authorised to give it;
(ii) you are required by law to do so;
(iii) the disclosure is made to a third party for the purpose of obtaining professional
legal advice provided that the third party agrees not to disclose the information to
any other person, or
(iv) the disclosure is:
a) reasonable and in the public interest;
b) made in good faith and in compliance with the reasonable requirements of the
council.
13. You must not improperly use knowledge gained solely as a result of your role as a
member for your own personal advantage.
14. When making decisions on behalf of or as part of the council you must have regard to
any professional advice provided to you by the council’s officers.
15. When using or authorising the use by others of the resources of the council:
(i) you must act in accordance with the council’s reasonable requirements;
(ii) you must make sure that you do not use resources improperly for political purposes
and do not use them at all for party political purposes.
Registering and declaring interests
16. You must, within 28 days of taking office as a member or co-opted member, notify the
council’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 as a
husband or wife, or as if you were civil partners.
17. You must disclose the interest at any meeting of the council at which you are present,
where you have a disclosable interest in any matter being considered and where the
matter is not a ‘sensitive’.
18. Following any disclosure of an interest not on the council’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.
19. 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. You must withdraw
from the room or chamber when the meeting discusses and votes on the matter.
A “sensitive interest” is described in the Localism Act 2011 as a member or co-opted member of a council
having an interest, and the nature of the interest being such that the member or co-opted member, and the
council’s monitoring officer, consider that disclosure of the details of the interest could lead to the member or coopted member, or a person connected with the member or co-opted member, being subject to violence or
intimidation.