Councils will have to rely on existing sanctions for conduct breaches, says minister

Local authorities will have to rely on existing provisions for sanctions when complaints over a breach of the proposed code of conduct in the Localism Bill are upheld, a government minister has said.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate on Monday, Baroness Hanham said: “In relatively minor cases, the council might conclude that a formal letter or other form of recording the matter was appropriate.

“Where a case involved a bigger breach of the rules, a council might conclude that formal censure – for example, through a motion on the floor of the council – was required. In more serious cases of misconduct, the council might go further and use its existing powers to remove the member from the committee or committees for a time.”

Baroness Hanham told peers: “We believe that this approach provides effective and robust sanctions, ensuring that the high standards of conduct in public life can be maintained, while avoiding the unnecessary bureaucracy of the standards board regime.”

Last week the government tabled amendments to the Bill requiring councils and other “relevant authorities” to have a code of conduct based on the seven Nolan Principles of Public Life.

The new code will also have to contain provisions on the registration and disclosure of pecuniary and other interests.

It will apply to parish councils, although Baroness Hanham said the relevant district or unitary council would be required to administer the scheme.

Other amendments set out that relevant authorities – except for parish councils – would have to have arrangements in place for investigating and making decisions on written allegations of a failure to comply with the code.

These arrangements will include the appointment of at least one “independent person” whose views must be sought and taken into account before the authority comes to a decision following investigation.

Prior to the amendments, the government was planning to simply rely on placing authorities under a duty under the Bill to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.

However, this approach was strongly criticised by peers and organisations such as the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, with warnings that the regime would be excessively permissive and lead to a “free-for-all”.

Baroness Hanham told the House of Lords on Monday that ministers felt the procedures would now have a real impact on the conduct of local councillors.

“While not spelling out how councils should put a scheme in place, it is clear that they have to,” she said. “They must have some means of dealing with complaints. It seems almost inescapable that if you are going to do that, you are probably going to have some sort of committee structure to deal with them. That would be fine if local authorities decide for themselves, but to be fair and independent, they will need to have balance.”

The minister ruled out monitoring of the new arrangements, saying it would be “up to local authorities themselves to see their systems through and to make sure that this structure works”.

She also expressed the view that where a complaint was received about the behaviour of a councillor appointed to an outside body, the council was still responsible for them and so would be able to take action.

Baroness Hanham added that the process of dealing with allegations of breaches must be transparent.

“Each step must be open to comment and it must be dealt with openly,” she said. “If there is a complaint that results in a warning or a letter, that must be clear so that local people who have elected these councillors know exactly what has happened or can find out.

“Some of the sanction will therefore be imposed by the electorate. They will know that somebody has transgressed or offended before they chose to re-elect him.”

Philip Hoult