Register of Members' Interests Policy

Code of Practice for the Disclosure of Interests

1. If at any time during the conduct of University business, a member believes that the matter under consideration might represent a potential conflict of interest as defined in 2.1 or 2.2 above, that interest should be declared.
   
   
2. Upon the declaration of that interest, the member should not take part in the discussion of the matter, nor vote upon it. In certain circumstances the member, voluntarily or as advised by the Chair of the Board and Clerk to the Board, may elect to withdraw from that part of the meeting, or whole of the meeting, where the matter is under consideration.
   
   
3. The Register of Members' Interests will be consulted, as a matter of course by the Clerk to the Board before any meeting of the Board or Board Committee, to establish whether there are any items which may result in either:
   
   i) the placement of a contract,
   
       and/or
   
   ii) a potential conflict with an individual, body, or company.
   
   
4. In circumstances where there may be a potential conflict of interests, the Clerk to the Board, in consultation with the Chair, will contact the member concerned and advise them accordingly. If, arising from this, a member wishes to undertake an interest in bidding for a University contract, then that member will be disbarred from receiving any confidential papers relating to the contract and from discussing the matter formally or informally with other members (other than in the normal course of tender). Once a member has had access to privileged information relating to the placement of a contract then they/their interests will normally be disbarred from the tendering process.
   
   
5. If not already identified from the Register of Members' Interests (5.3 above), members should normally advise the Clerk to the Board prior to the meeting if there is a need to declare an interest based on the information contained in the meeting papers. However, if the potential conflict of interest arises during the meeting, the declaration should be made immediately to the Chair. If there is any doubt as to the relevance of an interest, then it should be declared.
   
   
6. The Chair, advised by the Clerk to the Board, shall be responsible for ensuring that interests, thus established, are properly declared.
   
   
7. A declaration of interest made prior to, or during, any meeting of the Board shall be formally minuted.

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