General Code of Conduct questions
- If my authority has not adopted a Code of Conduct, am I covered?
- My authority adopted the Code of Conduct 2007 prior to 3 May 2007. When did this Code come into force?
- When and how should a notice of adoption be sent to the Standards Board?
- Did the existing 2001 Code remain effective until the 2007 Code was adopted by a local authority?
- Is a Model Code of Conduct for parish councils available?
- Can my authority make additions to the 2007 Code of Conduct?
- Is paragraph 12(2) mandatory for all authorities?
- Which Code of Conduct applies if I am on more than one authority or if I represent my authority on another authority?
- Does the Code of Conduct apply to co-opted members?
- Where can I get a copy of the Model Code of Conduct?
- What guidance is available on the new Code of Conduct?
- What happens if I make a complaint to the Standards Board for England that another member has broken the Code of Conduct, and then I am sued for defamation?
- Who should hold the register of interests for parish councils - the clerk or the monitoring officer?
- Does the public have a right to inspect the register of interests?
- If I serve on more than one authority, do I need to register my interests for each authority?
If my authority has not adopted a Code of Conduct, am I covered?
Yes. The provisions of the Model Code of Conduct 2001 were applied automatically on 5 May 2002 to all members of authorities that had failed to adopt a Code of Conduct by that date.
The revised Model Code of Conduct (2007) was issued by the government on 4 April 2007. It was the duty of local authorities to adopt the 2007 Code in place of their existing 2001 Code within six months of the 2007 Code being introduced. This meant that local authorities had until 1 October 2007 to adopt the 2007 Code. Members of local authorities that did not adopt a revised Code are now automatically covered by it. The 2001 Code continued to be in force until the local authority adopted the 2007 Code, or until 1 October 2007, whichever was earlier.
My authority adopted the Code of Conduct 2007 prior to 3 May 2007. When did this Code come into force?
For those authorities that adopted the Code of Conduct 2007 before 3 May 2007, the 2007 Code came into force on 3 May 2007. For authorities adopting the 2007 Code after this date, the 2007 Code came into effect on the date of adoption or 1 October 2007, whichever was earlier.
When and how should a notice of adoption be sent to the Standards Board?
Local authorities must notify the Standards Board for England when they have adopted a Code of Conduct. If you are a local authority, the easiest way to notify the Standards Board of your adoption is to send an email to Kimberley Connell in our Policy and Guidance team at enquiries@standardsboard.gov.uk.
Local authorities can simply notify us that you adopted the revised Code unamended or with, for example, the addition of paragraph 12(2), and do not need to send us a copy of the Code. If, however, further amendments are made, the local authority need to send us a copy of the amended Code.
Did the existing 2001 Code remain effective until the 2007 Code was adopted by a local authority?
The existing 2001 Code remained effective until the authority adopted the new 2007 Code.
Is a Model Code of Conduct for parish councils available?
We have prepared a Model Code of Conduct for parish and town councils 2007. This has been created to assist parish and town councils in adopting the relevant mandatory paragraphs and the ‘voluntary’ paragraph 12(2), while excluding paragraphs that are not relevant to parishes.
We included paragraph 12(2) in our Model Code of Conduct for parish and town councils 2007 as we anticipated wide support for it being included in local Codes.
Can my authority make additions to the 2007 Code of Conduct?
Authorities are able to make local additions to the 2007 Code. However, to avoid confusion for members and the public, and to minimise inconsistency, our advice is that local authorities should not amend the revised Code with one exception: paragraph 12(2).
Is paragraph 12(2) mandatory for all authorities?
Paragraph 12(2) is not mandatory for all authorities.
Paragraph 12(2) gives members with a prejudicial interest in a matter the same rights as members of the public to speak to a meeting on the matter, and then leave before the main discussion and vote.
Paragraph 12(2) is not mandatory for parish and town councils, English and Welsh police authorities, the Greater London Authority, national park authorities, and fire and rescue authorities. Therefore, if these types of authorities wish to adopt paragraph 12(2), they will need to do so expressly, either by adopting the Standard Board’s Model Code of Conduct for parish and town councils 2007 or following the instructions below.
If your authority wishes paragraph 12(2) to apply, it will need to pass a resolution adopting the Model Code of Conduct including paragraph 12(2) or, if your authority is a parish or town council, adopt the Standards Board’s Model Code of Conduct for parish and town councils 2007. It is not enough to adopt, for example, “the Code as applicable to parish councils”, as paragraph 12(2) is not mandatory for parishes and they must therefore expressly ‘opt-in’ for it to have effect.
If paragraph 12(2) is included in your authority’s Code, the Standards Board recommends that, in order to provide clarity, standing orders or procedural rules should be in place which clearly set out the circumstances in which members of the public can attend meetings of the authority to make representations, give evidence or answer questions.
If your authority does not provide members of the public with any right to speak, paragraph 12(2) will have no effect at your authority. This means that members with a prejudicial interest would have to continue to leave the meeting after declaring the nature and extent of their interest.
Which Code of Conduct applies if I am on more than one authority or if I represent my authority on another authority?
If you are a member of more than one authority, you must abide by the Code of Conduct that applies to the authority whose business you are carrying out at the time. So for example, if you are a councillor and also a member of a police authority, you will be bound by the police authority's Code of Conduct when carrying out police authority business.
If you represent your authority on any other body (not a Standards Board-regulated authority), you must comply with your authority's Code of Conduct – except where it conflicts with any other legal obligations by which the other body is bound. You should seek legal advice if you consider that the provisions of the Code of Conduct conflict with other legal obligations. We do not expect that these circumstances will arise very often.
Does the Code of Conduct apply to co-opted members?
Yes. Anyone who is a voting member of one of the authority's committees or sub-committees will be covered by the Code. This includes members of standards committees.
Where can I get a copy of the Model Code of Conduct?
The 2007 Model Codes of Conduct are available by clicking on the links below, which open in a new window:
The Standards Board's Model Code of Conduct for town and parish councils 2007 (Word version)
The Standards Board's Model Code of Conduct for town and parish councils 2007 (PDF version)
The 2001 Model Codes of Conduct are available by clicking on the links below, which open in a new window:
Local authorities (including fire and joint authorities)
National park authorities and the Broads Authority
Your authority will also hold a copy of the Code of Conduct it has adopted.
What guidance is available on the new Code of Conduct?
General guidance on the Code of Conduct 2007 is available in electronic form and hard copies have been distributed, while a range of factsheets on key topics of the revised Code can be downloaded from this site.
The Case Review 2007, our paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the new Code, is available to download and hard copies have been distributed.
We are also producing a range of training materials for local authorities to use to train their members on the Code of Conduct 2007. These materials include standard presentations, which are now available on our website, and a DVD, which has been distributed to monitoring officers and County Association secretaries.
What happens if I make a complaint to the Standards Board for England that another member has broken the Code of Conduct, and then I am sued for defamation?
Our view is that councillors will be able to rely on the defence of 'qualified privilege' which arises in relation to defamatory statements "fairly made by a person in the discharge of some public or private duty, whether legal or moral". In our view, the same defence would be available to standards committees acting in pursuit of their statutory duties, and to members of the public making an allegation honestly, reasonably and in good faith.
Who should hold the register of interests for parish councils - the clerk or the monitoring officer?
The monitoring officer has legal responsibility for the register. However, ideally the monitoring officer will work very closely with the parish clerk to ensure that the register is up-to-date.
The clerk should always have an up-to-date copy of the register and this should be available for the public to inspect and at meetings of the parish council.
Does the public have a right to inspect the register of interests?
Yes.
- Can councils charge a fee for an inspection of the public register?
The charging of fees may well be unlawful and is certainly undesirable.
- Should councils let people take notes and/or a photocopy of the public register?
Yes. A council should allow the taking of notes from a public document by people while on the council's premises. We see no distinction between the taking of notes and photocopying. A council may, though, charge for the use of its photocopier in line with its own internal guidelines.
The council may wish to warn the public that they risk breaching the Data Protection Principles if they publish details of the register (for example on the internet) without the members' concerned prior permission.
If I serve on more than one authority, do I need to register my interests for each authority?
Yes. If you are a member of more than one authority, you must register your interests for each of those authorities.
Where you act as a representative of your authority on another relevant authority, you must comply with that other authority's Code of Conduct. This extends to completing the register of interests for the other authority.
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