14.1 Staff cannot accept gifts, hospitality beyond basic refreshments or benefits of any kind from a third party which may, or may be seen to, compromise their personal judgment or integrity.

The offer or receipts of gifts and offers of hospitality beyond basic refreshments offered to staff in course of their duties must be recorded in a register which is maintained by the Committee and Governance Clerk.

The offer or receipt of gifts and additional hospitality with a value of over £25 will be published on the Gifts and Hospitality Register

Gifts

14.2 Where a gift is offered, for example by way of thanks for work undertaken on a case or as part of a working relationship with a third party, it should be politely refused with a statement of our policy.

14.3 Where such gifts, without prior communication, are sent to individual staff, teams or office sites and it is practical to return them they should be returned. Where impractical, due to cost of return postage or the nature of the item, gifts should be shared with colleagues or donated (for example as a raffle prize) to a UK registered charity.

14.4 Trivial items, including promotional materials (pens, post-it notes, calendars, etc) and items with no commercial value, do not need to be reported or recorded on the Gifts and Hospitality Register.

14.5 There are occasions when to refuse a gift offered would cause offense, this would normally apply only to token gifts received during official visits or presentations from peer organisations etc.

14.6 The Accounting Officer will report gifts with a value over £25 in their Governance Statement. Gifts made during the year will be reported to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee annually, at their first meeting of the next Financial Year.

Hospitality

14.7 Staff may accept basic hospitality and refreshments offered in the course of their duties. This includes tea / coffee offered during a meeting or light refreshments provided at a meeting, event or training session. Additional hospitality, for example a meal in a restaurant, should be declined where practicable.

14.8 Offers of additional hospitality outside the workplace, for example event tickets, should be declined in line with the Gifts section of this statement.

Exceptions

14.9 Where it may be appropriate to accept higher value gifts or hospitality, including attendance at conferences, or gifts or hospitality offered by international peer organisations the matter should be referred to the Chief Executive Officer for consideration.

14.10 Hospitality received during the year will be reported to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee annually, at their first meeting of the next Financial Year.

14.11 If you have any queries about the implementation of this statement please contact the Committee and Governance Clerk.