12. Letter from Standards Committee
of Conwy County Borough Council
PUBLIC SERVICES
OMBUDSMAN (WALES)
BILL
Having considered the Public Services Ombudsman
(Wales) Bill, the Standards Committee of Conwy County Borough
Council wish to submit the following response for consideration:
Whilst it is noted that the Bill gives comprehensive
cover to dealing with matters of alleged maladministration, it
does not appear to acknowledge to the same extent matters relating
to ethics and probity and in particular breaches of the members
code of conduct.
In this connection it is suggested that the
Standards Committee could pay an important part in improving the
co-operative working between and amongst officers and elected
members. For example, the Committee would refer to matter of alleged
breach of the code of conduct reported to the Ombudsman (as is
now the case in Wales) and where the Ombudsman concluded that
no formal action or investigation was necessary. Where the alleged
breach (or the allegation of a breach) appears to have been caused
by a lack of understanding of the code, the Committee believes
that in such cases provision should exist for the Ombudsman to
refer such matter(s) on an anonymous basis through the Monitoring
Officer with a recommendation that the Committee looks into a
possible "training" requirement on specific issues.
The Committee also noted that the Bill seemed
to provide the Ombudsman with wide discretion. Having regard in
particular to the provisions of clauses 9(3), 9(4) and 13(3) of
the Bill, the role of the Committee in general could perhaps be
strengthened if a similar opportunity was provided for earlier
involvement of the committee in respect of alleged breaches of
the code.
Turning to clause 13(4)(b) of the Bill, the
Committee raised the question of a possible conflict of these
provisions with Human Rights legislation.
The Committee hopes that the Ombudsman will
continue to work closely with Monitoring Officers and that this
Bill will be an opportunity for a system to be approved that will
provide Standards Committees in general at a local level, to make
a positive contribution to the ethical framework of local government.
M G Mason
Chairman
18 January 2004
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