Article 9 – The Standards Committee

9.01 Standards Committee

The Council meeting will establish a Standards Committee.

9.02 Composition

The Standards Committee will be composed of at least three councillors (who may not include the Leader) and at least three people who are not councillors or officers of the Council or any other body having a Standards Committee (the independent members). The independent member will be the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee and will be entitled to vote at meetings.

9.03 Role and Function

The Standards Committee will have the following roles and functions:

a) promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by councillors, co-opted members and church and parent governor representatives;

b) assisting the councillors, co-opted members and church and parent governor representatives to observe the Members' Code of Conduct;

c) advising the Council on the adoption or revision of the Members' Code of Conduct;

d) monitoring the operation of the Members' Code of Conduct;

e) advising, training or arranging to train councillors, co-opted members and church and parent governor representatives on matters relating to the Members' Code of Conduct;

f) granting dispensations to councillors, co-opted members and church and parent governor representatives from requirements relating to interests set out in the Members' Code of Conduct;

g) dealing with any reports of Ethical Standards Officers of the Standards Board on allegations of breaches of the Council’s Code of Conduct that are referred to the Monitoring Officer for local determination and any such allegations referred to the Monitoring Officer for investigation and determination locally;

h) establishing sub-committees, under regulation 6 of the Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008/1085 (“the Regulations”) for the discharge of functions under s 57A and 57B of the 2000 Act, and regulations 18–20 of the Regulations; and to determine, or make arrangements for determining, the composition, membership and terms of reference of such sub-committees;

i) to discharge as a full committee the functions contained in regulations 18–20 of the Regulations where the full committee decides that such functions should not be discharged by a sub-committee established under g) above;

j) to discharge as a full committee the functions contained in regulation 17 of the Regulations; and, where considered appropriate by the full committee, to establish a sub-committee (and agree its composition, membership and terms of reference) to discharge such functions;

k) subject to l) and m) below, to discharge or make arrangements for discharging any of the functions conferred upon the Committee under the Regulations and associated, relevant provisions of Part III of the 2000 Act;

l) To monitor and exercise a non-financial audit function in respect of:

  • the operation and discharge of the functions set out at a) and c) above;
  • any sub-committees’ (established under a) above) operation and discharge of their functions; and
  • the County Council’s operation and discharge of the functions exercisable by or on behalf of the Monitoring Officer under the Regulations, Part III of the 2000 Act, or by virtue of a delegation of Standards Committee.

m) to discharge the function, contained in s 66B of the 2000 Act, of providing information and statistical periodic returns to the Standards Board for England;

n) To conduct an annual review (and report on its findings) of the County Council’s operation and discharge of its functions under the Regulations and associated, relevant provisions of Part III of the 2000 Act;