Standards Committee
A committee of a local authority responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of ethical conduct by councillors, and dealing with complaints of breach of the code of conduct.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Standards committees were originally created on a mandatory, uniform basis by section 53 of the Local Government Act 2000, which required 'every relevant authority' in England and Wales to 'establish a committee ... which is to have the functions conferred on it by or under this Part' — a dedicated body responsible for the local ethical framework and for handling misconduct complaints against councillors. The 2000 Act framework, with its detailed regulation-making powers over the size, composition and voting rights of such committees, remains in force for authorities in Wales, where standards committees continue to be a formal statutory requirement.
For English authorities, the position changed with the Localism Act 2011, which repealed the compulsory standards committee model in England and replaced it with a more flexible duty. Section 27 requires a 'relevant authority' to 'promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the authority' and, in discharging that duty, to 'adopt a code dealing with the conduct that is expected of members and co-opted members of the authority when they are acting in that capacity'. Section 28 sets out what that code of conduct must contain — consistency with the seven Nolan principles of public life, and provision for registering and disclosing pecuniary and other interests.
Rather than mandating a specifically named 'standards committee', the Localism Act requires English authorities (other than parish councils) to have 'arrangements under which allegations can be investigated' and 'arrangements under which decisions on allegations can be made', including the appointment of at least one independent person whose views must be sought before the authority decides on an allegation it has chosen to investigate. In practice many English councils have retained a committee they still call a 'standards committee' to discharge these functions, even though the 2011 Act no longer requires a committee bearing that specific name or structure.
Example
A Welsh county council remains legally required to maintain a standards committee under the Local Government Act 2000, while an English district council is free to discharge its equivalent duties under the Localism Act 2011 through any committee structure it chooses, provided it has arrangements for investigating and deciding complaints and appoints an independent person.
Related terms
Official sources
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