Incoming standards regime to be tough on council corruption: Minister

Local Government Minister Bob Neill has insisted that the new standards regime coming into force this Sunday (1 July) will take a “tough stance on council corruption”.

The framework requires councillors to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs), such as financial and trade union links. The regulations for DPIs were published earlier this month. 

Criminal sanctions are available in cases where there has been a failure without reasonable excuse to register a DPI, although critics have questioned whether the police will have much appetite to bring prosecutions.

An offence is punishable with a fine of up to £5,000 and disqualification from office for up to five years.

Local authorities will meanwhile have to put in place a code of conduct for members based on the Nolan principles. There is also a new position of ‘independent person’ in the handling of conduct complaints.

Neill stepped up his criticism of the Standards Board regime, which has been dismantled amid claims it had become a “system of nuisance complaints".

The Department for Communities and Local Government also argued that the old framework discouraged councillors from whistle-blowing or criticising waste and inefficiency in local government, “as it opened them up to complaints by local authority officers”.

The Minister said: "The Standards Board regime led to an explosion in petty, partisan and malicious complaints that dragged down the reputation of local government, as well as suppressing freedom of speech.

"Our reforms take a tough stance on council corruption by making serious misconduct a criminal offence, accompanied by the sunlight of transparency on financial and union interests. Such reforms will give local people the confidence that councillors are putting local residents' interests first."

See also: Of special interest – Olwen Dutton and Peter Keith-Lucas cast a critical eye over the new standards regime.