Issue - meetings

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services presented the Standards Update to the Committee and briefly explained the main points.

The Chairman asked when it was expected that Central Government would respond to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s (CSPL) 26 recommendations on ethical standards in local government. He also asked if it was most prudent to await the decision on whether the LGA model code of conduct was to be adopted nationwide before the Council committed to an independent exercise to review its own code of conduct.

The Head of Service said there was no clear timescale, although CSPL had chased a response. To avoid potential duplication of work, it would be prudent to await the government response on whether the LGA model code of conduct should be adopted. He said it was his intention to report to the Committee on standards more regularly going forward and that updates on the current position could be provided in this way.

It was agreed by the Committee that if a decision on the model code of conduct was not forthcoming in the next six months, the current approach would be reviewed.

RESOLVED – that the report be noted.