Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidelines his Department issues to (a) local authorities and (b) police forces for handling allegations of bribery and corruption in council operations.

This Government is committed to ensuring the good record of transparency, probity, scrutiny, and accountability is maintained across councils in this country.

Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 requires that a councillor must not participate in a discussion or vote on a matter where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest in any matter to be considered at a meeting. Section 30(3) of the Localism Act 2011 further provides that any relevant pecuniary interests of a councillor’s spouse or partner are considered as a disclosable pecuniary interest of the councillor. Government has published guidance on disclosable pecuniary interests available.

It is a criminal offence to fail to declare pecuniary interests, which acts as a strong deterrent against corruption.

Every principal council has a Monitoring Officer, whose statutory role is to report on matters that they believe are, or likely to be, illegal or amount to maladministration.