C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8Part III Conduct of local government members and employees

Annotations:
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C5

Pt. III applied (with modifications) (5.3.2008) by The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/634), arts. 1, 7(5)

C6

Pt. III applied (with modifications) (28.3.2008) by The Bedfordshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/907), arts. 1, 16(8)

C7

Pt. III functions made exercisable (E.) by joint standards committees (15.6.2009) by The Standards Committee (Further Provisions) (England) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1255), regs. 1(1), 14

C4C7Chapter II Investigations etc: England

Functions of ethical standards officers

I159 Functions of ethical standards officers.

1

The functions of ethical standards officers are to investigate—

a

cases referred to them by the Standards Board for England under section F158(2)F158(1), and

b

other cases in which any such officer considers that a member or co-opted member (or former member or co-opted member) of a relevant authority in England has failed, or may have failed, to comply with the authority’s code of conduct and which have come to the attention of any such officer as a result of an investigation under paragraph (a).

2

The Standards Board for England may make arrangements in relation to the assignment of investigations under this section to particular ethical standards officers.

3

The purpose of an investigation under this section is to determine which of the findings mentioned in subsection (4) is appropriate.

4

Those findings are—

a

that there F2is no evidence of anyF2has been no failure to comply with the code of conduct of the relevant authority concerned,

b

F3that no action needs to be taken in respect of the matters which are the subject of the investigation,

F3that there has been such a failure to comply but no action needs to be taken,

c

that the matters which are the subject of the investigation should be referred to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned, or

d

that the matters which are the subject of the investigation should be referred to the F4First-tier Tribunal for adjudication.

5

Where a person is no longer a member or co-opted member of the relevant authority concerned but is a member or co-opted member of another relevant authority in England, the reference in subsection (4)(c) to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned is to be treated as a reference either to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned or to the monitoring officer of that other relevant authority (and accordingly an ethical standards officer who reaches a finding under subsectio (4)(c) must decide to which of those monitoring officers to refer the matters concerned).