Standards Board for England

The Standards Board for England is a Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Established following the Local Government Act 2000, it is responsible for promoting high ethical standards in local democracy. It oversees the Code of Conduct, which covers members and co-opted members who serve on a range of authorities. The Standards Board maintains an overview of investigations into allegations that members' conduct may have fallen short of the required standards. Where it finds that further action is merited, it refers cases to the Adjudication Panel for England for disciplinary action.

Those who are subject to such supervision are the following types of authority in England and the members of any of them:

* parish council
* district, city or borough council
* county council
* the City of London Corporation
* the Council of the Isles of Scilly
* fire and rescue authority
* police authority
* passenger transport authority
* national park authority
* the Broads Authority
* the Greater London Authority

Responsibility for Ethical Standards

Primary responsibility for ensuring ethical standards rests with the Councils themselves. Each local authority which is subject to the Code of Conduct must appoint a monitoring officer or local standards committee. The chief executive and legal officers of a council have a duty to advise members on ethical matters.

Under forthcoming changes, the standards committee of each council (which will have to be chaired by an independent member) will be responsible for receiving allegations and deciding whether any action needs to be taken. Standards committees will report periodically to the Standards Board for England.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct was revised after an extensive consultation process and the new Code came into force on 3 May 2007. Revisions include the relaxing of the definition of 'personal interest' and extends the rights of councillors to speak in relation to matters in which they have a prejudicial interest. Where councillors have a prejudicial interest in a matter, they are now given the same rights as members of the public to speak at meetings where that matter is discussed.

A councillor is now only deemed to have a personal interest in a matter if it affects them to a greater extent than the majority of their constituents. This allows greater freedom for councillors to represent their constituents fairly and to act as community advocates.

tatistics of Complaints

According to the Board's 2007 Annual Review and Report [http://www.standardsboard.gov.uk/Publications/AnnualReviewandReport/ Annual Review and Report 2006-7] , of all the complaints received in the year:

*only 3% were referred for adjudication, and 4% back to the local authority.
*93% were determined as "No evidence of breach" or "No further action" (38% and 55% respectively).

Of the "No further action" determinations:

* 33% - evidence not decisive
* 30% - remedy agreed or in place
* 17% - mitigation or trivial
* 11% - no longer councillor
* 6% - whole council problem
* 3% - public interest defence

Only 37 cases were referred to the Adjudication Panel. Of these:

* 26% - no breach
* 26% - no sanction
* 21% - disqualified for up to a year
* 11% - disqualified for 15 months to five years
* 16% - suspended for a year

Issues

Predetermination

The issue of predetermination is often confused with the Code of Conduct. The judge-made, common law rules on bias and predetermination have to be taken into account by councillors, but these rules are not part of the Code of Conduct or the responsibility of the Standards Board for England.

ee also

* Adjudication Panel for England
* Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000
* Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
* Standards Commission for Scotland

References

External links

* [http://www.standardsboard.gov.uk Standards Board for England - Official website]
* [http://www.standardscommissionscotland.org.uk/ Standards Commission for Scotland]
* [http://www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk/content.php?nID=1;lang=1 Public Services Ombudsman for Wales]
* [http://www.fixthelaw.co.uk/index.php/Standards_Board_for_England Coverage on a UK law wiki]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/public/features/story/0,,2049122,00.html Guardian news article - How to set the highest standards locally]