lay members

[jest]

Does anyone know the obligations, if any, on lay members to disclose interests in matters being discussed at council meetings? For example what if a lay member is at a council meeting and is discussing a planning application in which he has an interest?

thanks

[Timbow]

Not sure what you mean by 'Lay'.

Any member of the Parish Council always has an obligation to disclose interests and in the example you gave they should certainly not vote, would normally take no part in discussion of the application and would often leave the chamber for the discussion.

If by 'lay member' you mean not a Councillor at all but a member of the public then that is quite different. If the Council (nb not the chairman) invites them to speak they can speak in their own interest to their own ends and aren't obliged to disclose what those interests are. People will often say a development will benefit the community when their main aim is profit. That's life.