Planning committee rule changes follow Poots review

Luke Poots and his father Edwin Poots pictured after the 2014 council elections

Councillors should leave planning committee meetings if they work for, or are related to, an assembly member or MP who has made a representation on an application.

Those are just some of the "learnings" of a review commissioned by Lisburn and Castlereagh Council after a watchdog disqualified former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor Luke Poots over his participation in planning decisions which were lobbied on by his father, Edwin Poots.

Both have continued to insist no rules were broken.

The council said its councillors had approved "a number of actions to improve council processes and avoid similar issues occurring in the future".

'Learnings for all councils'

The council has shared dozens of recommendations with other local authorities.

Luke Poots was banned from being a councillor for four years by the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards.

The watchdog found he breached "multiple" parts of the councillors' code of conduct by failing to properly declare his interests on the council's planning committee.

A hearing was told there were 35 planning decisions between 2016 and 2018, where Luke Poots sat on the committee and his father, Edwin Poots, made representations.

The watchdog's report expressed concern about the extent to which the council had "adequately monitored" the committee.

In response, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council commissioned a review to "identify learnings".

It revealed how some planning decisions caught in the controversy, which were later overturned in the courts, cost the council about £110,000 in legal fees.

The 19-page review detailed 13 action points, two guidance points, and 10 other "reminders" aimed at "minimising the risk of reputational damage to the council in the future".

It said there were "learnings from the review for all of local government".

The recommendations include:

• Councillors should complete and return declaration of interest forms annually

• A conflict of interest register for all councillors to be published annually

• Strengthen induction training for new councillors

• Officials at council meetings should have a copy of councillors' declared conflicts of interest

• If the council legal adviser has concerns about a councillor's declaration of interests, they should bring this to the attention of the chief executive

• Councillors related to an assembly member or MP may be present if they have been given an exemption by the Department for Communities or they believe it would benefit the council to remain

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council said: "The majority of these actions have now been fully implemented, with some still being progressed."

The report was released over the summer and was formally considered in September by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) in Northern Ireland.

Solace NI said the body agreed that implementing the recommendations was a matter for the other 10 councils to consider.

Analysis: Planning review seeks to rebuild confidence

While councils in Northern Ireland are usually associated with leisure facilities and bin collections, local planning is a big part of their remit too.

About 10,000 applications are submitted each year, with councillors deciding which proposals should be given the green light or refused.

This review by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council will hope to rebuild confidence in its processes following past controversies.

The recommendations focus on ensuring councillors fully declare their interests and encouraging officials to raise concerns when they arise.

The council said the majority of these actions have now been "fully implemented" to improve governance and transparency.

With the proposals now shared more widely, other councils may soon follow suit in a bid to avoid their own planning disputes.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council said councillors had approved a number of actions following the review

Luke Poots served as a councillor from 2013 until 2019 and had been employed as a caseworker in his father's constituency office.

He has previously denied breaching the code of conduct and said the watchdog proceedings were a "politically-motivated attack" on his family.

In a statement from his solicitor last year, Luke said he had been "denied a fair and proper hearing" and his "Article 6 rights have been breached".

Edwin Poots, a former leader of the DUP who is now Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, has previously insisted there was no conflict of interest "in any way, shape, or form".

He said he had "nothing more to add" when asked about the latest review.

In a statement, the DUP assembly member criticised media reporting on the matter, describing it as an "obsession" which was "verging on a vendetta".

He claimed there had been "numerous examples" of councillors working for assembly members who have "made planning decisions on which their employer has been an advocate".

The DUP and Luke Poots were also approached for comment.