Since the last town council elections in May 2023 its emerged that some serving Penrith councillors have been accepting hundreds of pounds worth of gifts and hospitality – all while council policies clearly warn them to tread carefully.
Both Westmorland and Furness Council and Penrith Town Council have strict rules and policies that say councillors must treat any gift, favour, or hospitality offered personally with extreme caution if it could even appear to be connected to their official role. Penrith Town Council’s guidance is clear to councillors stating: “Your personal reputation and that of your Council can be seriously jeopardised by the inappropriate acceptance by you of gifts or hospitality.”
Westmorland and Furness Council adds a “Golden Rule”: “If you have any doubts, then do not accept the gift or hospitality.”
Councillors are legally required to declare gifts over £50 in Penrith (or £25 in Westmorland and Furness) within 28 days, and any gift over £25 requires prior approval from the Monitoring Officer.
Despite these rules and guidance of the council a serving town councillor accepted gifts and hospitality worth hundreds when serving as Penrith Mayor and Chair of the Town Council worth hundreds of pounds. One package alone included:
4 General Access Tickets to Kendal Calling, 4 VIP Green Room Passes, 2 Car Park Passes with a total estimated value of: £700 – accepted in his official capacity as a councillor.
Penrith Town Council has been asked if it maintains a full register of gifts and hospitality accepted by councillors and council officers and offered the opportunity to comment along with town councillors on the accepting of gifts and hospitality.
A current Westmorland and Furness councillor told Penrith.Town News what the council considers acceptable: “A free pen, a bag, or a cup of tea is fine. Anything else? Think twice. I wouldn’t even dream of accepting a bottle of wine – it could be misinterpreted.Westmorland and Furness Councils standards and governance committee at its last update on councillors gifts over £25 was told the monitoring officer had received no reports of gifts received over the value of £25 from any Westmorland and Furness Councillors in the 12month period. The town council to date has never received a report on decelerations of gifts and hospitality received by councillors in any meetings of the town council.
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