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Decision making (Cabinet and Committee information)
Standards Committee : Terms of Reference
Membership :
- 3 elected District Council members (who shall not be the leader of any political group); and
- 2 independent persons (who shall not be councillors or officers of the Council or any other body having a local authority standards committee under the Local Government Act 2000); and
- 2 elected parish Council members, one from each of the parish Councils in the District.
Quorum : 3 - 1 District member, 1 independent (and 1 parish member for parish matters)
Chairmanship :
The Chair of the Standards Committee and any Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee shall be a person who is not a member, or an officer, of that or any other relevant authority, where a “relevant authority” means:
- a county council;
- a county borough council;
- a district council;
- a London borough council;
- a parish council;
- a community council;
- the Greater London Authority,
- the Metropolitan Police Authority;
- the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority;
- the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority or police authority;
- the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
- a fire and rescue authority constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies;
- a police authority;
- a joint authority established by PART IV of the Local Government Act 1985;
- the Broads Authority, or
- a National Park authority established under section 63 of the Environment Act 1995.
Advisory functions
- Promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by Councillors;
- Developing a local Members’ Code of Conduct, including any National Code to be prescribed by the Secretary of State;
- Advising the Council on the adoption or revision of its Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Assisting Councillors to observe the Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Advising, training or arranging to train Councillors on matters relating to the Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Advising the public on matters relating to the Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Implementing, monitoring and reviewing the operation of the Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Granting dispensations to Councillors from requirements relating to interests set out in the Members’ Code of Conduct;
- Dealing with any reports from a case tribunal or interim case tribunal and any report from the Monitoring Officer on any matter which is referred by an Ethical Standards Officer to the Monitoring Officer;
- Determining whether or not complaints about the conduct of District or Parish Councillors shall be investigated;
- Determining complaints about the Conduct of District and Parish Councillors;
- Exercise the functions in (1) to (9) above in relation to Parish Councils in the Council’s area and the members of those Parish Councils;
- Implementing, monitoring and reviewing the operation of the Code of Conduct for Staff;
- Implementing, monitoring and reviewing the operation of the Protocol on Member/Officer Relations;
- Undertaking the Council’s ethical governance audit of the rules and procedures applying within the Council and considering the need for any further provisions;
- Submitting an annual report to Council.
Delegated functions
- To elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson (from the independent members only). Parish members shall not be entitled to vote on this matter;
- To make an Annual Report on its work to Council.
Onward limits on delegations
Delegations to the Chief Executive, Strategic Directors, Executive Heads of Service and any limitations imposed are set out in the scheme of delegations to officers.
The specific responsibilities and functions delegated to this Committee are set out in detail in Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution (.PDF 258kb).
See also :
- Agendas, reports and minutes of Standards Committee
- See list of councillors serving on this committee
- Dates of committee meetings
