The Chief Officer Legal and Regulatory, Human Resources and Corporate Policy presented a report, the purpose of which, was for the Committee to consider the harmonisation of gifts and hospitality thresholds to ensure consistency  with  other Welsh local authorities.

She stated that under the current members Code of Conduct, members were required to register the receipt of any gifts, hospitality or other benefits where the value of the item exceeded a threshold set by the Council. In Bridgend, this this threshold was £25.

Monitoring Officers across Wales were asked to seek views with their Standards Committee on where the standard threshold should be set at.

The report enclosed a table indicating that the average threshold across Wales was currently £25. The Chief Officer Legal and Regulatory, Human Resources and Corporate Policy, requested that the Committee agreed that local authorities should voluntarily harmonise their thresholds and sought comments on whether Members felt £25 was an appropriate amount.

RESOLVED :                                That the Committee agreed to

                                                      support the proposal that local authorities           

                                                      in Wales should voluntarily harmonise

                                                      their thresholds for the registration of gifts

                                                      and hospitality, with this in BCBC   remaining at £25.