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<p>This Government is committed to ensuring the good record of transparency, probity,
scrutiny, and accountability is maintained across councils in this country.</p><p>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 <a
href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a748e08ed915d0e8bf193c8/Openness_and_transparency_on_personal_interests.pdf"
target="_blank">guidance</a> on disclosable pecuniary interests available.</p><p>It
is a criminal offence to fail to declare pecuniary interests, which acts as a strong
deterrent against corruption.</p><p>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.</p>
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