The return of Standards Board for England? Government to propose national body for most serious standards cases and appeals

The Government is to consult on the introduction of a national body to deal with the most serious standards cases and appeals “as was the case under the former system with the Standards Board for England”.

The move would be subject to discussions with the sector, according to the English Devolution White Paper published today (16 December).

In the White Paper, the Government criticised the Localism Act 2011 for not providing councils "with sufficient powers to maintain high standards".

It cited comments from local leaders "who say it is ineffectual, inconsistently applied, and lacking in adequate powers to sanction the small number of members who seriously breach codes of conduct".

The Government said it intends to consult on the following proposals in addition to the new national body:

• A mandatory code of conduct – “to establish a higher minimum standard of expected behaviours and ensure consistency, reflecting the Government’s commitment to public service and to updating the 30-year code to cover discrimination, bullying, use of social media, and other issues not featuring in the current minimum requirements.”
• A requirement for principal local authorities to convene formal Standards Committees – “to ensure all local authorities have formal, transparent processes to uphold and promote standards.”
• Powers to suspend, including imposing premises and facilities bans – to allow local authorities to enforce their own standards. “The Government believes that councils need the ability to address serious misconduct with powers to suspend councillors for a maximum of six months, with the option to withhold allowances where deemed appropriate.”
• Disqualification if subject to suspension more than once – “to curb the risk of ‘repeat offending’ and empower councils to signal that poor behaviour will not be tolerated.”
• Subject to discussions with the sector, the Government will explore immediate disqualification in certain instances of serious misconduct.
• Interim suspension whilst under investigation – to reassure the public that action is being taken. “This could be used in serious cases that may involve protracted investigations or the police, for example alleged fraud or assault.”
• Publication of all code breach investigation outcomes – “to enhance transparency, giving the public the opportunity to check their council’s record on maintaining good conduct.”

The Government said that in proposing such measures, it wanted to give the relevant authorities “appropriate and proportionate means to deal with misconduct effectively and decisively when it does occur”.

It added: “We also want to ensure that victims can feel confident and safe when raising an issue under the code of conduct if it impacts them personally, breaches the code of conduct, or brings the council into disrepute. To this end we will be embedding lessons learnt from the development of the parliamentary Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.”

In October 2010 then Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, justifying the introduction of the Localism Act 2011 and the proposed closure of Standards for England, suggested that the only achievement of standards boards was to be “petty, silly and pointless”.

Adam Carey