Development of the Ethical Framework
5. The Local Government Act 2000 introduced wide-ranging
and significant reform of local government. Part III of that Act
laid out a new ethical framework for local government covering
around 100,000 elected members in England and some 16,000 further
members in Wales. It is one of the most extensive and rigorous
ethical frameworks to be applied to any group of public sector
workers in the UK.
6. A National Code of Local Government Conduct was
first issued in 1975, in the wake of the Poulson scandal and following
on from the recommendations of the two Royal Commissions which
investigated the affair. It applied equally to all part of the
UK mainland. In 1990, in response to recommendations made four
years earlier by the Committee of Inquiry into the Conduct of
Local Authority Business, the National Code was given statutory
authority and breaches became prima facie evidence of maladministration.[3]
7. In 1997, when the Committee on Standards in Public
Life reviewed the operation of the National Code, it found that
it had become almost unworkable - "impenetrable in parts
and inconsistent in others" - and that "scarcely
anyone had a good word to say" about it.[4]
The Committee made a series of recommendations designed to reinvigorate
local government. The Government broadly accepted the Committee's
analysis and recommendations although the White Paper which followed
in 1998, and the subsequent legislation, differed in one area
significantly: whereas the Committee on Standards in Public Life
had favoured a high degree of local regulation of standards of
conduct, the Government proposed the establishment of a national,
independent Standards Board for England to receive and investigate
complaints under the new framework. It argued that:
maintaining an arms-length relationship with both
central and local government is important to reinforce the message
to the public that the Board will deal with any complaints in
a rigorous yet impartial manner.[5]
8. Parliamentary scrutiny of the legislation resulted
in some changes to the operation of the proposed Standards Board,
reintroducing the concept of local involvement albeit in a more
limited form than that envisaged by the Committee on Standards
in Public Life: some completed investigations would be referred
to local Standards Committees for determination and some complaints
would be referred to local monitoring officers for investigation.
The scope of the framework was also extended during the Bill's
passage through Parliament, bringing town and parish councillors
within its ambit.
9. The Bill received Royal Assent in July 2000 and
the Standards Board for England was formally constituted in March
2001 as an autonomous public body, independent of the Crown. At
the same time, to maintain the separation between investigation
and adjudication of cases, the Adjudication Panel was established
to consider completed investigations referred to them by Ethical
Standards Officers (the Board's investigating officers). The Adjudication
Panel determines whether breaches of the Code have occurred and,
if so, can decide upon appropriate penalties. The Relevant Authorities
(General Principles) Order 2001[6]
set out ten general principles which would underpin the Code of
Conduct (closely based on the seven principles of public life
promulgated by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in its
1997 report[7]). A Model
Code of Conduct was drafted by the then Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions in consultation with a range of other
bodies and brought into force through a series of statutory instruments
late in 2001. Local authorities were required to adopt local codes
of conduct which had to include all the provisions of the Model
Code. Where councils did not adopt a local code by May 2002, the
Model Code applied automatically.
10. The Standards Board for England began to receive
allegations of breaches of Codes of Conduct early in 2002 but
at that stage, some critical parts of the regulatory framework
had yet to be put in place. In particular, regulations to enable
Ethical Standards Officers to refer some completed investigations
to local Standards Committees for determination, and thus avoiding
sending every case to the Adjudication Panel, did not come into
effect until June 2003. Regulations enabling Ethical Standards
Officers to refer some cases to monitoring officers for local
investigation did not come into effect until November 2004 - well
after we had embarked on our inquiry.[8]
11. A national code of conduct for local government
officials, which was provided for in the Local Government Act
2000, has yet to be established. The Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister (ODPM) issued a consultation document and a draft code
in August 2004.
Devolved administrations
12. Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 applies
to both England and Wales equally but in Wales it is the Welsh
Assembly that is responsible for implementation. The result is
that the structures used to implement the ethical framework in
Wales are distinct from those in England. The Local Government
Ombudsman for Wales receives and investigates complaints; the
content of the Model Code of Conduct is different; there are different
rules covering the establishment of local standards committees;
and supporting regulations enabling referrals for determination
to local standards committees came into force much earlier than
in England.[9]
13. Scotland has a distinct statutory framework for
ethical governance which was established under the Ethical Standards
in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act, which also came into force
in 2000. However, the Scottish Parliament did not approve the
Councillors Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members
of Devolved Public Bodies until mid 2003. The operation of the
Scottish Framework is therefore very much still in its infancy.
14. There is no comparable framework in Northern
Ireland.[10]
3 Report from the Committee of Inquiry into the Conduct
of Local Government Business (The "Widdecombe" Committee),
1986, Cm 9797. Back
4
Committee on Standards in Public Life, Third Report, Standards
of Conduct in Local Government, 1997, Cm 3702, p. 17; Committee
on Standards in Public Life, Tenth Report, Getting the Balance
Right: Implementing Standards of Conduct in Public Life, 2005,
Cm 6407, p. 52. Back
5
Ev 1, HC 1118-II, Session 2003-04
Back
6
Relevant Authorities (General Principles) Order 2001, SI 1401. Back
7
Committee on Standards in Public Life, Third Report, Standards
of Conduct in Local Government, 1997, Cm 3702, p. 17. Back
8
The Local Authorities (Code of Conduct) (Local Determination)
(Amendment) Regulations 2004. Back
9
The Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill, which in currently
under consideration in Parliament, aims to establish a single
office to cover all the Ombudsmen in Wales (the Commissioner for
Local Administrations in Wales, The Local Government Ombudsman,
The Health Service Commission for Wales, the Welsh Administration
Ombudsman and, when established, the Social Housing Ombudsman
for Wales). The Welsh Affairs Committee reported on the Bill,
Third Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, Session 2004-05,
on Public Services Ombudsmen (Wales) Bill [HL], HC 234. Back
10
Local councillors in Northern Ireland are subject to a voluntary
Code of Conduct but there are no clear processes for reporting
breaches of the Code nor clear means of enforcement. Back
