Prerequisites:
- You will typically be a Meeting Administrator with access to the Resolve Admin portal (https://CLIENTNAME.resolve.red/admin/) and appropriate permissions to view and edit the Minutes area.
- Councillors or Board Members using BoardView (https://CLIENTNAME.resolve.red/boardview) require access to this portal and the relevant meeting types.
- Prior to use, the Conflict of Interest feature needs to be enabled for each required Meeting Type. See steps in this article, or contact Redman Solutions Helpdesk for assistance.
HOW TO USE CONFLICT OF INTEREST (Skip here for guide on setup)
When enabled and configured for a Meeting type, conflict or disclosure of interest submissions can be made by a Councillor, in the BoardView portal meeting Item. Alternatively, if your local process allows Councillors to direct conflict details to your Governance or Meeting Admin team prior to a meeting, the administrator can then register in Resolve on their behalf.
Where a conflict is submitted through BoardView, email notifications can be set up to alert the administrator of a newly received Item conflict.
Once registered in Resolve on the meeting agenda, Minute takers can then apply the Conflict to the related Item minutes discussion directly or as part of a Motion.
* Note: Dependent on the location or state where the Council resides and related policy or terminology differences, the label name for this feature can be tailored. E.g. 'Conflict of Interest' or 'Disclosure of Interest'. Similarly, the Conflict Types and wording can be defined as required. See setup section here for further information.
Submitting a Conflict through the BoardView portal
See related article Submit Conflict/Disclosure of Interest through BoardView portal, which provides steps for Councillors or Board Members to submit a conflict using BoardView.
Tip: If Councillors or Board Members are using BoardView portal to submit their Conflicts, email notifications can be set up to alert Meeting Administrator staff that a Conflict of Interest has been received and will be visible in the related meeting Minutes screen. See setup section here for details on enabling these notifications.
Governance or Meeting Administrator team registering Conflict on behalf of Councillor
If your Council's process involves Councillors or Board Members directly notifying your Governance or Meeting Admin team of Conflicts pre-meeting, this can be accommodated by recording in the related meeting minutes area. On receipt of a Conflict, see following steps for a Meeting Administrator with Minutes screen permissions, to register in the system.
- Navigate to the related meeting agenda, then go to the Minutes screen.
- Click SUMMARY menu to see Order of Business, then click on the relevant Item.
- Click the [Conflict of Interest]* tab below the Comments & Discussion box to show the related options.
1. To manually add a Conflict received from a Councillor, click the green ADD CONFLICT OF INTEREST* button
2. In the new Conflict window, select 'Submitted by' Councillor name, appropriate 'Conflict of Interest Type', then
3. Edit the pre-filled comments in the 'Conflict of Interest Text' box, to describe details of the Councillor's Conflict, as received.
4. Click SAVE button to complete recording the Conflict against that agenda Item. The newly added Conflict will be shown under the [Conflict of Interest]* > [Current Item] tab.
See next section for how to apply a Conflict to the meeting Minutes.
Recording a Conflict in the meeting Minutes
Once Conflicts are recorded under an Agenda, as described in the previous section, the following shows how you can apply these to the relevant Item within the Minutes screen, prior to, during or after the meeting.
- Navigate to the related meeting agenda, then go to the Minutes screen.
- Click SUMMARY menu to see Order of Business, then click on the relevant Item.
- Click the [Conflict of Interest]* tab below the Comments & Discussion box to show the available options and list already registered Conflicts.
Adding a single Conflict to an Item Minutes Discussion - There are two methods, depending on your process or requirement. Each insert the Conflict using a predefined snippet, with the consistent format and wording required by your Council.
OPTION 1 - Click 'Add as Motion' button, which will add the Conflict of Interest as a separate 'Motion' which can then be edited as necessary, like other motions, then saved as 'Carried' to apply the detail to the top Comments & Discussion box.
OPTION 2 - Click 'Add to Discussion' button, which will apply the Conflict of Interest details direct to the Comments & Discussion box.
Adding all meeting Conflict of Interests to an Item in Bulk - If your process involves adding all disclosed conflicts for a meeting to a Minutes Item, see the following steps.
1. From the Minutes screen required Item, where you want to insert all Conflict details, go to the [Conflict of Interest]* > [View All] tab, where all registered Conflicts for that meeting will be listed.
2. Click BULK ADD TO DISCUSSION button to insert all Conflicts to the Comments & Discussions box for the current Item.
SETTING UP THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST FEATURE ON A MEETING TYPE
Conflict of Interest is configured per Meeting Type, therefore some of the below steps may need to be repeated for each meeting type where you want to use the feature. If you need guidance on this, contact Redman Solutions Helpdesk.
Initial Conflict of Interest set up steps
- Go to Site Settings > Item Options > then scroll to the bottom section Conflict of Interest Types
1. Click NEW CONFLICT OF INTEREST TYPE button to add each required Conflict Type to be selectable.
2. Enter the 'Conflict Type' name, in this example "Pecuniary".
3. Using your local guidelines, enter the 'Default Text' to be presented when this Conflict Type is chosen. Note, system Merge Tags, recognised by text in square brackets, can be used to autopopulate details from the meeting, such as that used in this example "[FULL_AGENDA_ITEM_NAME_NUMBER]".
4. Click SAVE button.- Repeat above steps 1-4 for other Conflict Types needed, to complete all those required.
- Go to Site Settings > Text Snippets > then scroll down to the top of the Minutes Snippets section
5. Click NEW MINUTES SNIPPET button to initiate creation of one or more snippets to be used for each Conflict of Interest type you set up in steps 1-4 above. The snippets use [Merge Tags] to pull in details about the Item and related Conflict details registered against it. These auto-snippets will be used to insert the Councillor name, required Conflict of Interest statement and details, when the Meeting Administrator decides to add Conflict as a Motion or direct to the Comments & Discussion box.
6. In the Add Minutes Snippet window that opens, enter a 'Title' and then insert the required 'Text Snippet' content and merge tags dependent on your required wording. See following examples of snippet content and merge tag use.
7. Click SAVE button.
- Repeat above steps 5-7 if multiple snippets are needed.
Example Snippet Content and Conflict of Interest merge tags:
Example 1 Conflict of Interest
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY]
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] declared a [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_TYPE] in relation to item [FULL_AGENDA_ITEM_NAME_NUMBER] stating
[CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_TEXT]
Example 2 Declarable Interest - Stay in Room
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY]
Item [OUTLINE_NUMBER_FULL_NO_PERIOD] -[AGENDA_ITEM_SECTION_NAME]
In accordance with Section 150EN of the Local Government Act 2009, Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] informed the meeting she/he has a possible [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_TEXT]
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] advised that although she/he has declared her interest, she/he does not believe a reasonable person could have a perception of bias because she/he has no interest in the matter and therefore, she/he chooses to remain in the meeting.
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] acknowledged that eligible Councillors must determine, pursuant to Section 150ES of the Local Government Act 2009 whether she/he:
1. May participate in the decision about the matter including by voting on the matter; or
2. Must leave the meeting, including any area set aside for the public, and stay away from the meeting while the eligible Councillors discuss and vote on the matter.
Councillors formed the view that as a reasonable person would not form a view that a conflict existed, and Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] has no Declarable Conflict of Interest, she/he may remain in the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on.
Example 3 Declarable COI - Leave Room
Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY]
Item [OUTLINE_NUMBER_FULL_NO_PERIOD] - [AGENDA_ITEM_NAME]
In accordance with Section 150EP of the Local Government Act 2009, Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] informed the meeting of a [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_TEXT]
Having regard to the nature of his/her Declarable Conflict of Interest, Councillor [CONFLICT_OF_INTEREST_SUBMITTED_BY] informed the meeting that he/she will leave the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on.
Steps required for each Meeting Type where Conflict of Interest will be used
- Go to Site Settings > Meeting Types > Blue Edit Pencil for required Meeting Type, e.g. Ordinary Council
- Under Meeting Type settings, click the [Conflict of Interests] tab, then follow the below steps
1. Tick 'Enabled' flag to switch on feature.
2. Enter the name for the 'Conflict of Interest' label to suit your Council terminology. Note, this label will be seen in the Councillor BoardView portal and Minutes screens.
3. Tick to 'Select Conflict Types' you previously set up under Initial Conflict of Interest set up steps above.
4. Assign 'Snippets Settings' using the ADD SNIPPET SETTING button, where you select the previously created Minutes Snippets set up under Initial Conflict of Interest set up steps above.
5. Click UPDATE button to save changes.
- Repeat above steps if required for other Meeting Types.
Notification Set up for BoardView submitted Conflicts
If Councillors or Board Members are using the BoardView portal to register their Conflicts, this section shows how to set up email notifications, so Governance or Meeting Admin staff are made aware when a new conflict is raised on a meeting.
- Go to Site Settings > Meeting Types > Blue Edit Pencil for required Meeting Type, e.g. Ordinary Council
- Under Meeting Type settings, click the [Notifications] tab, then under the 'Conflict of Interest Submitted' section, follow the below steps
1. Tick 'Enabled' flag to switch on notifications.
2. Select the 'Email Template' named "Conflict of Interest Submitted"
3. Under 'Send Email to Users', choose notification recipients, by selecting existing Resolve Users.
4. Click UPDATE button to save changes.