Memorandum by the Association of Council
Secretaries & Solicitors (STA 18)
I write on behalf of the Association of Council
Secretaries and Solicitors in respect of the above matter.
The Association represents senior legal and
administrative officers in local government and many of its members
are Monitoring Officers, appointed under Section 5 of the Local
Government and Housing Act 1989, with specific and personal duties
to report on illegality and to report to local Standards Committees
in overseeing the Code of Conduct for Elected Members.
The Association has, recently, submitted evidence
to the Graham Committee by way of a written submission, which
is downloadable from the relevant website, along with a transcript
of the oral hearing attended by John Polychronakis, the Immediate
Past President of the Association, and Mike Kendall, a past President
of the Association. This letter, therefore, builds on the evidence
already adduced and made available to the Graham Committee, which
can be summarised as follows:
1. The Association does not believe that
there is a great deal wrong with standards of conduct and behaviour
in local government. The Nolan Committee confirmed this point.
2. There is no need for uniformity of application
of Codes of Conduct at the national level, and the Association
believes that the role of the Standards Board for England should
be different; in that, it should be responsible for overseeing
the National Code of Conduct for Members and perhaps dealing with
more serious cases referred up to it by local Standards Committees.
Monitoring Officers of relevant local authorities are best placed
to judge whether a referral to the Standards Board for England
was appropriate based on the likelihood of a suspension of greater
than 6 months or a disqualification of an Elected Member.
3. The current centralised system, where
all written complaints by members of the public (and Elected Members)
are referred to the Standards Board for England to consider does
not appear to be the best model in terms of efficiency or effectiveness
and the Association advocates the introduction of Local Dispute
Resolution Procedures.
4. Monitoring Officers do not, primarily,
advise the Standards Committee, they have a much wider role in
terms of advising the Council, corporately and collectively.
5. The Standards Board for England's oversight
of the National Code of Conduct for Members should be distinct
from operating the same at a national level.
6. The current centralised system is proving
to have a detrimental effect on the reputation of individual Councillors
in view of the length of time it takes to determine such matters.
This, invariably, will have an adverse impact on the reputation
of local government generally, and may discourage individual members
from standing for office as a Councillor. This cannot be good
for building trust or confidence in local government.
7. Local authorities already have experience
of applying national codes at the local level and the current
National Code of Conduct for Members should be no exception to
that. The current requirement for independent members of the Standards
Committee being "unconnected" with local government,
provides a certain element of independence and, in view of the
fact that Standards Committees meet in public, they will be held
accountable and responsible to the local public without any wrongdoing,
impropriety or pressure being brought to bear on the members of
the Standards Committee to support any particular Councillor.
8. The local determination of complaints
by Standards Committees will provide a far faster remedy for complainants
and those complained against. Any guidance from the Standards
Board for England should be guidance and should not be prescriptive.
9. In terms of the National Code of Conduct
itself, the Association submitted evidence that three areas needed
further consideration. These related to the current whistleblowing
provisions, registration of interests on external bodies that
Members have been appointed to by the local authority itself and
the provisions on speaking and voting which were in need of greater
clarity and detailed guidance.
If for any reason you are unable to obtain the
transcript and evidence presented to the Graham Committee, please
do not hesitate to contact me and I will forward a copy of the
same to you. In terms of the current enquiry into the "Role
and Effectiveness of the Standards Board for England", the
Association make the following comments:
Statement: The effectiveness of the Standards
Board for England in overseeing the Code of Conduct, that sets
out the rules governing the behaviour of Members of local authorities
Response:
The Association believes that the Standards Board
for England has done an exceptionally good job in promoting and
overseeing the introduction of the National Code of Conduct and
all indications are that the Standards Board for England takes
its duties seriously and will continue to promote and oversee
the Code of Conduct.
The Standards Board has also issued guidance
and the Association is pleased that it has been formally consulted
by the Standards Board on such guidance, as relevant Monitoring
Officer experience at the local level is essential if Standards
Board for England guidance is to be meaningful and helpful to
the same and to Elected Members/Standards Committees.
On the whole, the guidance issued by the Standards
Board is welcomed by many Monitoring Officers and tends not to
be prescriptive in form or substance, as ultimately the arbiter
will be the courts if the matter was ever adjudicated upon.
Statement: The role of the Standards Board
for England in ensuring local authorities adhere to the Code of
Conduct and its ability to assess allegations of misconduct in
a timely and fair way
Response:
The Standards Board for England recommended that
local authorities should not add to the National Code of Conduct
and, on the whole, most if not all local authorities heeded such
guidance and, it has to be said, this has assisted the Standards
Board for England and local authorities to ensure a consistent
application and common understanding across England. The whole
process has, therefore, been a positive one for the Standards
Board and for local authorities, in general.
In terms of the Standards Board's handling of
complaints referred to it, in writing, it is clear that the Standards
Board has suffered from staffing difficulties with the exceptional
volume of complaints received from Parish Councils, in particular.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Standards Board for
England has experienced delays in conducting and concluding investigations.
Delays of nine months are not unheard of and such delays do not
do justice to the complainant or the complainer, as such complaints
"hang in the air" against the accused Elected Member
for a very long time. Individual credibility of Councillors has,
therefore, been affected by such complaints—which may ultimately,
have been dismissed, but the damage has, of course, been done
to such Elected Member's reputation.
In addition, vexatious and persistent complaints
have, no doubt, been received by the Standards Board for England
and its ability to respond to the same may be hindered by the
current legislative provisions; in that, they have to consider
each and every complaint on its merits and not the general demeanour
and behaviour of certain persistent complainers or types of complaints
(eg campaigns).
The Association maintains its view that the local
determination of all written complaints should be the preferred
method; in that local Standards Committees (which have independent
members on them) are well placed to consider local complaints,
the history of the complainers and generally to deal, appropriately,
with any sanctions that may be necessary at the local level. A
process of referral to the national level (Standards Board), with
possible subsequent referral to the local level (Standards Committees)
just adds bureaucracy and delay in the process and frustration
for those involved. Furthermore, it is also clear that many complainers
are deterred from having to complain to a national body, as they
do not wish to elevate a local matter to a national level.
Statement: The Standard Board for England's
relationships with relevant stakeholders
Response:
As indicated above, the Association is grateful
to the Standards Board for England for consulting it on relevant
issues. This is a credit to the Standards Board for England and
clearly the Association will continue to assist it as far as it
is able to do so. In terms of other regulatory organisations and
Central Government relations, we believe that the Standards Board
for England has established a credible standing within local government
generally, and Central Government in particular. It is regarded
as a highly influential organisation which takes seriously its
legislative responsibilities and acts in accordance with the law
and is, on the whole, fair and equitable; although, in view of
the length of time that it takes to consider complaints, there
have been delays in process/justice due to staffing difficulties.
Statement: The role of the Standards Board
for England in supporting the establishment and operation of Standards
Committees at a local level
Response:
The Standards Board for England has established
an annual conference for Standards Committees and Monitoring Officers.
These are extremely well attended and all indications are that
this method of informing and influencing local committees and
relevant decision makers is proving to be an effective and efficient
one. It also provides a most useful networking opportunity for
relevant professionals and Elected Members involved in the administration
of standards and ethical behaviour in local government.
Beyond that, the Standards Board has also issued
general guidance to Standards Committees and Monitoring Officers
and, on the whole, both have been well received and have not,
to our knowledge, been the subject of any judicial challenges.
In conclusion, the Standards Board for England
plays an important role in supporting the ethical framework at
a local level. The Association will continue to work with the
Standards Board to ensure the successful improvement of the administration
of standards and behaviour with a view to improving trust and
confidence in local government.
Should you require any further information with
regard to this submission, please do not hesitate to contact me,
or Mirza Ahmad, Chief Legal Officer at Birmingham City Council,
who is now taking a lead on such matters for the Association.
If the Select Committee would value any oral evidence from the
Association, we would be delighted to assist.
Gifty Edila
President of the Association
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