Standards at Rochford

The Council's Ethical Framework is the set of rules and procedures which set out the standards of behaviour that the Council expects of its Councillors and staff.  It also deals with the way in which Councillors and officers should relate to one another.

The Ethical Framework was derived from the Local Government Act 2000 and guidance from the Standards Board for England and is overseen by the Council's Standards Committee.  The Head of Legal, Estates & Member Services is Rochford District Council's Monitoring Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Ethical Framework.

The following outlines various aspects of the ethical framework that governs standards at Rochford.

The Constitution

The Constitution, which comprises 7 Parts, includes 16 Articles that set out the basic rules governing the Council’s business. Detailed responsibilities, procedures and codes of practice appear later in the document.

The Constitution can be downloaded from the Related Links section at the bottom of this page.

The Code of Conduct for Members

Every Council is required to adopt a Code of Conduct that sets out the rules governing the behaviour of its members. All elected, co-opted and independent members of the Council must agree to be bound by the code upon accepting office.

Rochford District Council has also adopted a Code of Conduct for its own staff.

The Code of Conduct for Members and Officers can be downloaded from the Related Documents section at the bottom of this page.

Register of Members Interests

All councillors are obliged to record their financial interests in a register. Information on the kind of interests that must be registered can be found in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the Members’ Code of Conduct. The register is not yet available online, but members of the public can arrange to view it at Council Offices, South Street, Rochford, Essex SS4 1BW during office hours.

The Council’s Standards Committee

The Standards Committee is responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by District, Parish and Town Councillors and co-opted Members. Its role also includes giving the Council advice on adopting a Local Code of Conduct, monitoring the effectiveness of the Code and training Members on the Code.

Since May 2008 the Committee has been responsible for dealing with the initial assessment of complaints about District, Parish and Town Councillors.

The Standards Committee is made up of 5 District Councillors, 3 representatives of the Parish and Town Councils in the District, and 4 independent persons from the local community, who are not Councillors.  It is independent of the Council in the way it operates and is chaired by an independent member.

Current membership of the Standards Committee is as follows;

The agenda, reports and minutes of Standards Committee meetings can be viewed from the Related Links section at the bottom of this page.

The Monitoring Officer

Rochford’s Monitoring Officer is Albert Bugeja , Head of Legal, Estates & Member Services.

The Monitoring Officer is appointed under Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and has a number of statutory functions as well as those conferred under the Local Government Act 2000 and regulations governing local investigations into member conduct.

The Monitoring Officer is required to prepare a report to Council where it appears to him that the authority has or is about to do anything which would be in contravention of the law or which would constitute maladministration.

Before publishing any report, the Monitoring Officer is under a duty to consult with the Chief Executive and the Chief Finance Officer (also known as the S151 Officer). Depending upon whether or not the function concerned is an executive one, the report has to be considered either by Full Council or by the Executive and the publication of the report has the effect of suspending the proposed action pending consideration of the report.

Complaints about Councillors

Rochford District Council’s Standards Committee deals with complaints that a councillor or a co-opted member of the following Councils has broken the Member’s Code of Conduct.

Please see the links below for information and guidance on how to make a complaint about a Member and to download a Code of Conduct Complaints Form.

If you would like to submit a question, comments or suggestions regarding a standards related issue please email Albert.Bugeja@Rochford.gov.uk

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