3 April 2008
Local government to have more power to enforce high standards of conduct
Local Government Minister John Healey today announced that councils will have more powers to hold their members to account for their conduct.
The new, more locally-based conduct regime - to be in force from May this year - gives local standards committees the responsibility for initially assessing all allegations of misconduct by councillors and, in all but the most serious cases, for any subsequent investigations, decisions and sanctions.
The maximum sanctions committees can impose on a member who has breached the code of conduct of local authority members will also increase, from a three-month partial or total suspension from office, to six months.
Under the new regime, the Standards Board will have the role of a strategic light-touch regulator, providing advice, support and guidance to assist local standards committees in undertaking their new roles. The Board will also monitor authorities' performance in carrying out their new functions in order to maintain consistently high standards across England.
Local Government Minister John Healey said:
"We are committed to devolving decision-making as much as possible to the local level, and local councils are best placed to deal with all but the most serious conduct issues. This new tough but proportionate regime means the public will be able to have full confidence in their local representatives.
"These regulations, prepared after wide consultation with local government and stakeholders, also deliver our commitment to introduce a devolved regime for the investigation and determination of all but the most serious allegations of misconduct against local councillors.
"Local authority standards committees will receive support and guidance from the Standards Board, ensuring that local councils across the country are empowered to maintain and promote the high ethical standards expected of their members."
Notes to editors
1. In 2005, the Committee on Standards in Public Life argued in its tenth report Getting the Balance Right - Implementing Standards of Conduct in Public Life 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.
2. The Government responded to this by proposing, in its 2006 White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities , to introduce a more proportionate and locally-based conduct regime. These proposals were incorporated into Part 10 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, which received Royal Assent in October 2007.
3. In January 2008, the Government published its Orders and Regulations Relating to the Conduct of Local Authority Members in England consultation paper. The paper sought the views of local government, stakeholders and the public on the detailed provisions to be included in regulations, deriving from Part 10 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, to put in place the new conduct regime. A summary of the responses received and the Government's response to those comments and issues raised by consultees has been placed in the library of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
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