New Responsibilities for District Standards Committees

District Councils' Standards Committees now have additional responsibilities with respect to ethical standards and the Code of Conduct.

Most complaints about the misconduct of District and Parish councillors are now handled locally rather than by the Standards Board for England.

When a complaint is received about the conduct of a councillor, a panel of the Standards Committee decide whether the complaint should be investigated locally or by the Standards Board or that no action should be taken. Following a local investigation, a report is presented to a special meeting of the Standards Committee which decides what action to take, if any, or penalty to impose.

The District Council Standards Committees have an independent Chairman and at least three independent members and three parish councillors. It is a requirement that whenever a Standards Committee is considering a complaint about the conduct of a parish councillor, a parish council member of the Standards Committee must be present.

Details of the new arrangements for the local assessment of compalints can be found on the Standards Board for England website.