Public Office (Accountability) Bill
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the provisions in chapter 2 of part 2 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill will (a) apply to councillors and (b) be in addition to section 28 of the Localism Act 2011.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones
The Code of Ethics requirement will apply to those working for public authorities, and therefore will not apply to elected officials, including councillors. Elected officials have a different relationship with institutions and are accountable to the public, not employers.
There are different arrangements for governing behaviour of elected officials. The Government recently consulted on a range of proposals to strengthen the current local government standards regime.
The response to the consultation will be published shortly.
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