The Dispensations Sub-Committee met to consider and approve a series of dispensations for councillors related to disclosable pecuniary interests¹. These dispensations aim to prevent inadvertent breaches of regulations and ensure the council can conduct its business effectively. The committee voted to grant all four recommended dispensations.

Applications for Dispensations

The Dispensations Sub-Committee considered a report, Applications for Dispensations Report , which recommended granting four dispensations to all councillors. These dispensations address potential conflicts of interest arising from the Localism Act 2011 and associated regulations.

The report argued that without these dispensations, the ability of councillors to represent local issues would be significantly impaired, potentially excluding a large number of members from discussions and debates. The report stated:

Without the grant of dispensations in Recommendations 1-4, the ability of Members to make representation on local issues would be significantly impaired. Many issues require the co-operation of partners to enable delivery, and this issue has the potential to exclude large numbers of Members from discussion and debates.

The dispensations were recommended to ensure the council could effectively conduct its business and that councillors could fully undertake their roles.

Recommendation 1

This recommendation allows councillors to speak and vote on matters related to:

• School meals or transport, unless it specifically relates to the school their child attends.
• Allowances, payments, pensions, or other financial benefits given to members.
• Setting Council Tax or a precept².

The report noted that previous legislation provided blanket exemptions for these types of business, and the dispensations would ensure the council could continue to transact its business effectively.

Recommendation 2

This recommendation addresses situations where councillors are also members of another public authority (or their spouse/partner is) and have a disclosable pecuniary interest due to receiving an allowance from that other authority. The dispensation allows them to:

• Speak on matters of dispute between the County Council and the other authority, provided they withdraw from the meeting room immediately after speaking.
• Speak and vote on other matters affecting that other authority.

The report highlighted that approximately 23% of the council's membership could be precluded from participating in discussions without this dispensation, which would have an adverse impact on democracy.

Recommendation 3

This recommendation concerns councillors whose spouse or partner is employed by the County Council or another public authority. It allows councillors to speak and vote on all matters affecting the County Council or the other authority, except for issues that would have a direct impact on the employment of their spouse or partner.

The report argued that barring councillors from speaking on any matter affecting the County Council due to their spouse's employment would have a detrimental impact on democracy.

Recommendation 4

This recommendation relates to Local Government Reform and Devolution, specifically issues covered by the English Devolution White Paper³ and/or proposed unitary local government in Warwickshire. It allows councillors with a disclosable pecuniary interest arising from these issues (due to receiving an allowance from another Warwickshire public authority or a salary from the County Council or that other public authority) to speak and vote at any meeting on these topics.

The report emphasized the importance of member views being heard on such a fundamental issue and that excluding a large number of members would seriously impact the quality of decision-making and the representation of communities across Warwickshire. The report stated:

It is considered to be of significant importance that Member views be heard on such a fundamental issue and that the vast majority of Members are able to formally participate in the voting. The exclusion of a large number of Members and their collective skills, knowledge, and experience would seriously impact the quality of decision making of Member bodies and the representation of communities across Warwickshire.

The report also noted that excluding a significant number of members could disturb the political balance of the council and its committees.