Issue - meetings

An annual review of the Council’s:

·        Anti-Fraud & Corruption Policy,

·        Whistleblowing Policy,

·        Declaration of Interests, Gifts & Hospitality Policy (for Officers),

·        Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) Policy,

has taken place to ensure they are updated in line with best practice and legislation.

Some minor changes have been made to the Council’s Anti-Fraud & Corruption Policy including updating/simplifying the definition of corruption along with other wording and contact detail amendments.

The Whistleblowing Policy has been updated following a review against best practice in the ISO37002 Whistleblowing Management Systems guidelines. Some other changes have been made including clarifying that the Policy’s primary purpose is to deal with disclosures relating to Council business and also explaining the process for employees raising safeguarding concerns.

Several changes have been made to the Council’s Declaration of Interests, Gifts & Hospitality Policy (for Officers) including clarifying the need for officers to comply with the policy when ‘local arrangements’ may exist, clarifying officer responsibilities under the policy, providing further guidance/clarification on gifts and also making declaration forms clearer on how the approving manager has made their decision about any declarations and the need, or not, for any measures to manage actual or perceived conflicts. A ‘frequently asked questions’ section has also been included in the policy.

The previous Regulation of Investigatory Power Act (RIPA) Policy has been strengthened to include provision for acquiring communications data so is now more explicitly and accurately titled, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) Policy. 

The strengthened sections include a statement that the scenario of BCP acquiring communications data, using the IPA provisions, is unlikely to be used. However, should the need ever arise, the strengthened sections include the process for a Council nominated Authorising Officer to give approval for IPA communications data access/acquisition and is reflected in the Accessing Communications Data Flowchart (Appendix E to the Policy).

Some amendments have been made to Appendix B (RIPA Authorisation Process) including use of necessary forms and clarification that surveillance can only take place until the expiry date is reached. A section has also been added for Policy consultation, equalities impact assessment date and document control.

The Head of Audit and Management Assurance presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Following an annual review to ensure that they were in line with best practice and current legislation, the report provided an annual review of the Council’s policies for Anti-Fraud Policy & Corruption, Whistleblowing, Declaration of Interests, Gifts & Hospitality Policy (for Officers), Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and Investigatory Powers Act (IPA). These four policies formed part of the Council’s governance arrangements for preventing, detecting and acting upon fraud and corruption. The Committee received an overview of the changes to the various policies.

It was explained that some minor changes had been made to the Council’s Anti-Fraud & Corruption Policy including updating and simplifying the definition of corruption along with other wording and contact detail amendments.

The Whistleblowing Policy had been updated following a review against best practice in the ISO37002 Whistleblowing Management Systems guidelines. Some other changes had been made including providing clarification that the Policy’s primary purpose was to deal with disclosures relating to Council business and also explaining the process for employees raising safeguarding concerns.

Several changes had been made to the Council’s Declaration of Interests, Gifts & Hospitality Policy (for Officers) including clarifying the need for Officers to comply with the policy when ‘local arrangements’ may exist, clarifying officer responsibilities under the policy and providing further guidance and clarification on gifts. The declaration forms had been made clearer on setting out how the approving manager had made their decision about any declarations and the need, or not, for any measures to manage actual or perceived conflicts. A ‘frequently asked questions’ section had also been included in the policy.

The previous Regulation of Investigatory Power Act (RIPA) Policy had been strengthened to include provision for acquiring communications data and now more explicitly and accurately titled, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) Policy.  The strengthened sections included a statement that the scenario of BCP acquiring communications data, using the IPA provisions, was unlikely to be used. However, should the need ever arise, the strengthened sections included the process for a Council nominated Authorising Officer to give approval for IPA communications data access and acquisition. This was also now reflected in the Accessing Communications Data Flowchart (Appendix E to the Policy).

Some amendments had also been made to Appendix B (RIPA Authorisation Process) including use of necessary forms and clarification that surveillance can only take place until the expiry date is reached. A section had also been added for Policy consultation, equalities impact assessment date and document control.

The Head of Audit and Management Assurance provided examples and confirmed that the policies referred to in the report had been in place since the inception of the BCP Council, were operating well and had passed the test of time. It was also explained that the policies were currently being reviewed by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93