COUNCILLORS who receive gifts of hospitality should seek approval before accepting them, a report which was discussed yesterday states.

Yesterday, councillors discussed the gifts policy at the standards committee.

The current policy encourages members to refuse any gifts or hospitality where it’s appropriate in order to protect the reputation of the council and to avoid any perceptions of bias.

The report said: “Where offers of gifts or hospitality are accepted, members are required to declare them to the monitoring officer within 28 days where the value is over £50.

“It also asks that any offers of significant gifts or hospitality that have been refused also be declared.

“The current threshold for declarations is £50.

“Though not explicit within the policy, this is interpreted to include cumulative value of gifts or hospitality from one source over the course of the year.

“Current practice, as suggested by the council’s external auditor a number of years ago, is to ask councillors to submit a nil return at the end of the year where they have not accepted any gifts or hospitality.”

At yesterday’s meeting, proposed changes were discussed.

The report added: “Whilst members may receive impromptu offers of gifts of hospitality, and therefore a judgement must be made at the time as to whether it would be appropriate for these to be accepted, there will be times where offers are known about in advance.

“This could, for example, be the invitation to an event.

“Where known about in advance, it is suggested that approval be sought from the monitoring officer.

“This would allow the monitoring officer to discuss the appropriateness of acceptance with the member and provide their advice on the situation.

“With regards to the financial limits currently in place, it is suggested that the limit be standardised with that of officers at £25.

“It is also suggested that it be made clear that this is for a cumulative value over the course of a year.”