Standards committee

Standards Committee overview

What is the Standards Committee?

All councils must establish a standards committee as part of an ethical framework arising from the Local Government Act 2000.  The aim of the standards committee is to promote high standards of ethical conduct among elected councillors, independent and co-opted members.  Standards for England oversees the ethical framework.

From 8 May 2008 the responsibility for considering any complaint that a councillor may have breached the councillors- code of conduct became the responsibility of this council's Standards Committee. 

What is the code of conduct?

All councils must adopt a code of conduct (the code) that sets out the rules governing the ethical behaviour of its councillors.  All elected, co-opted and independent members of the council are covered by the code.  Find out more about the code and making a complaint.

What does the Standards Committee do?

The Standards Committee:

• promotes and maintains high standards of conduct by councillors and co-opted members;
• assists councillors and co-opted members to observe the code;
• advises the council on adoption or revisions to the code;
• monitors operation of the code;
• monitors training for councillors and co-opted members on matters relating to the code;
• deals with code of conduct complaints about councillors;
• grants dispensations to councillors and co-opted members from requirements relating to interests arising from the code;
• considers breaches of local codes and protocols. 

Access reports to the Standards Committee.

What powers do standards committees have?

Following an investigation into an allegation of a breach of the code, a standards committee can take action against a councillor if it decides that the councillor breached the code.  The committee can suspend a councillor for up to six months; impose training, censure the councillor, request an apology from the councillor or impose a combination of any of these sanctions.

Membership of the Standards Committee

Ten people make up the Standards Committee.  Four members are elected district councillors, three people are parish councillors from across South Oxfordshire (parish representatives), three people are independent representatives.  Find out more about the members of the Standards Committee.

The parish representatives are important to ensure the views of town and parish councils across the district are considered.  The Standards Committee can only consider matters relating to town and parish councils when a parish representative attends a meeting.

The independent representatives are important in helping increase public confidence in councils.  They help to ensure that the Standards Committee acts in a fair and impartial way.    When a vacancy for an independent representative arises, the council advertises the post.  To ensure the impartiality of the Standards Committee an applicant has to meet certain criteria to be able to apply for the post.

Register of councillors' interests

All councillors must record their financial interests in a register. Information on the kind of interests that must be registered can be found in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the code of conduct. The register is not available online, but members of the public can arrange to view it at South Oxfordshire District Council, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, OX10 8ED

Who is the Monitoring Officer and what is their role?

The council's Monitoring Officer is Margaret Reed, Head of Legal and Democratic Services. 

The Monitoring Officer is appointed under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and has a number of statutory functions in addition to those recently conferred under the Local Government Act 2000 and subsequent regulations governing local investigations into councillor conduct.

The Monitoring Officer must prepare a report to council where it appears that the council has or is about to do anything which would contravene the law or would constitute maladministration.

Before publishing any report, the Monitoring Officer has a duty to consult with the Chief Executive and the Chief Finance Officer (also known as the S151 Officer). 

Further information

For more information about the Standards Committee and the code of conduct please contact Democratic Services.

To subscribe for forthcoming Standards Committee papers, please email us.  Put "Standards Committee" in your email header we will send you an email enclosing the agenda and papers for meetings when they become available to the public.