The council’s Monitoring Officer decides whether to grant a dispensation. The dispensation is to enable members to speak and vote on a matter. The members have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest. Before doing so, the Monitoring Officer will consult the Independent Person.
The Monitoring Officer can grant a dispensation for a specified period of time. That time cannot exceed 4 years in the following circumstances -
- when so many members of the decision-making body have Disclosable Personal Interests. These interests are in a matter that it would 'impede the transaction of the business'. In practice, this means that the decision-making body would be inquorate as a result
- when representation of different political groups on the body doing the business would want to change the outcome of votes on the matter. This would be without the dispensation
- when the Monitoring Officer considers that the dispensation is in the interests of persons living in the authority’s area
- when the Monitoring Officer considers it is otherwise appropriate to grant a dispensation
Any dispensation that is granted is recorded.