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Maintaining and improving high standards of conduct in local government

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT News Release (263) issued by The Government News Network on 3 January 2008

Greater powers will be devolved to local authorities to enforce high standards of conduct for local councillors through innovative proposals published for consultation by Local Government Minister John Healey today.

If implemented, under the reformed regime, standards committees will make initial assessments of all misconduct allegations against councillors. The maximum sanctions committees could impose will also increase, from a three-month partial or total suspension from office, to six months.

Standards committees will also be able to refer more serious cases to the Adjudication Panel for England, which would see the range of sanctions available to it increased, to reflect the sanctions already available to standards committees.

The Standards Board for England would also see its remit change from the investigation of misconduct allegations to the provision of support and guidance to standards committees to assist them in their new initial assessment role.

In 2005, the Committee on Standards in Public Life conducted a major review of the ethical regime for councillors, and recommended that decision-making on allegations of misconduct should be devolved as much as possible to the local level.

Local Government Minister John Healey said:

"Councils are best-placed to maintain and improve high ethical standards by their members: That is why these proposals have been designed to devolve power to local authorities, through reformed standards committees, and to ensure committees receive the necessary support and guidance from the Standards Board.

"These proposals deliver our commitment to introduce a more proportionate and locally based regime for the investigation and determination of all but the most serious of misconduct allegations against local councillors."

The Standards Board will provide support and guidance to standards committees to maintain consistency of standards of decision-making across the country.

Subject to consultation, the new regime could be implemented in April next year at the earliest.

Notes to Editors

1. The consultation runs until 15 February, 2008. A copy of the consultation paper, which is being circulated to all local authorities in England, can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/laconduct

2. In 2005, the Committee on Standards in Public Life argued that to guarantee high standards of conduct by councillors, decision-making on allegations of misconduct should be devolved as much as possible to the local level.

3. The Government responded to this by giving a commitment to the introduction of a more locally based system for handling allegations of misconduct in our 2006 White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities, and including provisions to implement a new, reformed ethical regime for local councillors in Part 10 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act this year. We are now consulting on the regulations and orders needed to provide the detailed rules on how the new regime will work in practice.

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