Agenda item

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance which outlined the Government’s March 2022 Response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life Report (CSPL’s) report of 2019, entitled “Local Government Ethical Standards”.

The 2019 report had provided assurance that the arrangements in place in local authorities were promoting and maintaining standards expected by the public and that the majority of local Councillors do maintain high ethical standards. However, the CSPL recommended that some improvements were required, in particular, the need for maximum independence in local complaints processes and the need for greater sanctions, where appropriate, in the rare cases of significant or repeated breaches of the code of conduct, and 24 Recommendations were considered by the Government.

One of the CSPL’s key recommendations was that there should be a non-mandatory model Code of Conduct which has now been produced by the Local Government Association, and which the Council have adopted a revised version of with effect from the 2021/22 municipal year. 

The report provided a summary of the Government’s responses to the 24 Recommendations. In particular, the Committee expressed their concern and disappointment in relation to the Government’s response to the following Recommendations:-

Recommendation 2: The Government agrees with the principal not to require public disclosure of home addresses for candidates and councillors and will engage with interested parties to ensure such disclosure is not required (whilst noting that it is important to register internally with the Monitoring Officer). This is therefore under review and has not been implemented.

Recommendations 10, 13, 14 and 16: These Recommendations all cover sanctions, power to establish decision making standards committees, right of appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman and its power to investigate, together with 6-month suspension powers.

The Government affirmed that the lack of suspension sanction was a deliberate policy decision by the coalition Government at the time of the Localism Act, to differentiate the new regime from that of the previous Standards Board stating that the Standards Board had a ‘chilling effect on free speech’ and that it would be ‘undesirable to have a Government quango to police the free speech of councillors’.

The Government’s position is that councillors are ‘ultimately held to account via the ballot box’ and that the Government has already recommended that every political party ‘establish their own code of conduct for party members including elected representatives’. Further the response insisted that “on the rare occasions” where notable breaches of the code of conduct had occurred, local authorities were not without sanctions under the current regime.

“Councillors can be barred from Cabinet, Committees, or representative roles, and may be publicly criticised. If the elected member is a member of a political group, they would also expect to be subject to party discipline, including being removed from that group or their party. Political parties are unlikely to reselect councillors who have brought their group or party into disrepute. All councillors are ultimately held to account via the ballot box.”

The Government has recommended that every political party establish their own code of conduct for party members, including elected representatives.

The Government has promised to engage with sector representative bodies of councillors and officers of all tiers of local Government “to seek views on options to strengthen sanctions to address breaches of the code which fall below the bar of criminal activity and related sanctions but involve serious incidents of bullying and harassment or disruptive behaviour”.

The CSPL had also called on the Government to clarify if councils may lawfully bar councillors from council premises or withdraw facilities as sanctions.

In relation to the Government’s response to Recommendation 23, the Government has recommended that local authorities publish their whistleblowing policies and named contact as best practice and consideration was given as to how this could be achieved locally.

RESOLVED that the Ethics Committee:-

(1)  Notes the content of the responses

(2)  Formally record their concern and disappointment in relation to the Government’s response, particularly in relation to Recommendations 2, 10, 13, 14 and 16 as outlined above, and request the Monitoring Officer to explore all options available in relation to lobbying for a change in the Government’s stance on these issues.

(3)  Notes that the Monitoring Officer will consider options in relation to Recommendation 23 relating to whistleblowing policies as outlined above.  

(4)  Request the Monitoring Officer to continue to monitor the national picture in relation to standards and report back on any issue which may be of relevance to the Council on a locallevel.