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4. Where decision making has been delegated, to receive a report advising as to the exercise of a discretion at the next Sub-Committee meeting following the exercise of such discretion.

These Members may also receive the same Executive unrestricted and restricted agenda papers in relation to executive decision making as the Councillor Members of the Committee/Sub-Committee to which they are appointed.

The record of the decision and notice by which it is made public shall state whether in the opinion of the decision making person or body, the decision is an urgent one, and therefore not subject to call-in.

The register also protects you by allowing you to demonstrate openness and a willingness to be held accountable. You are personally responsible for deciding whether you should disclose an interest in a meeting, but it can be helpful for you to know early on if others think that a potential conflict might arise. It is also important that the public know about any interest that might have to be disclosed by you or other Members when making or taking part in decisions, so that decision making is seen by the public as open and honest. This helps to ensure that public confidence in the integrity of local governance is maintained.

Members should be mindful of taking part in the decision making process when they are actually biased, where it might appear to a fair and informed observer that there was a real possibility of bias, or where a Member has predetermined the matter by closing their mind to the merits of the decision.

There is statutory recognition for party political groups and it is common practice for such groups to give preliminary consideration to matters of Council business in advance of such matters being considered by the relevant Council decision making body. Senior officers may properly be called upon to support and contribute to such deliberations by political groups but must at all times maintain political neutrality. All officers must, in their dealings with political groups and individual Members treat them in a fair and even-handed manner.

Political group meetings, whilst they form part of the preliminaries to Council decision making are not empowered to make decisions on behalf of the Council. Conclusions reached at such meetings do not therefore rank as Council decisions and it is essential that they are not interpreted or acted upon as such.

Ensuring lawfulness and fairness of decision making.

The reasons for taking that action, or the reasons for not taking any action. (The exercise of this function needs to be considered in conjunction with the function of the Chief Executive to ensure lawfulness and fairness of decision making and the function of the Chief Finance Officer to ensure lawfulness and financial prudence of decision-making).

Supporting good decision making through the provision of financial information and advice to decision makers;