Councillor pleads guilty to failing to disclose pecuniary interest

The Deputy Leader of Ashfield District Council has pleaded guilty to two charges under the Localism Act 2011 of failing without reasonable excuse to notify a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Cllr Tom Hollis was fined £2,400 at Nottingham Magistrates' Court for failing to disclose a pecuniary interest when he was re-elected in 2019 and 2021, which involved a £70,000 loan he made to friend, a report from The Evening Standard said.

According to The Evening Standard, Hollis loaned the money to a fellow councillor in 2018.

The other councillor then used the money to buy a property, which she was registered as the legal owner of. Cllr Hollis meanwhile failed to register as a beneficial owner.

The Evening Standard reported that Deputy Chief Magistrate, Tan Ikram, said: “Throughout the period 2019 to 2021 he was the beneficial owner of the said property and was re-elected twice without disclosure on his part of that financial interest.

“It is not suggested by the prosecution that the defendant was dishonest.

“It is not suggested that he benefitted from any decision made in his role as a councillor as regards his non-disclosure.

“These offences, I am told, only came to light because of a police inquiry in relation to an unrelated case, and because the matter was in the hands of the police this matter comes before the courts, rather than being dealt with by internal processes within the local authority.”

The magistrate accepted that there was no obvious benefit by his non-disclosure, adding: "Whilst these offences are serious, I can envisage more serious instances of non-disclosure, where there can be said to be actual benefit.”

Cllr Hollis initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his pleading to guilty.

Local MP Lee Anderson, called for Cllr Hollis to step down as deputy leader in light of the prosecution.

Cllr Tom Hollis said: “Today, I pleaded guilty to a technicality of a paperwork error. My only crime was lending a friend some money, and I didn’t record that loan as it was just to a friend. There have been no complaints about wrongdoing or any personal gain of any kind.”

Hollis said the judge made it “clear he thought there had been no dishonesty” and refused to award costs to Nottinghamshire Police, which brought the prosecution.

Adam Carey