Dear Sir or Madam,

s2 of the Local Government Act 1972 defines a Council. A Council is
expected to appoint both an Electoral Registration Officer and an
Electoral Returning Officer according to the Representation of the
People Act.

Provision of this linkage between the Council Officers means and
the Councillors means that they owe a duty of care to their
constituents. If the linkage does not exist officers are able to
engage in activities on behalf of elected representatives that
breach the General Obligations of Councillors.

What guidance has the Standards Board issued to Local Authorities
on this issue, as there are now very few Council's in England, and
very few Councillors. It is very difficult to return one if a
returning officer has not been appointed, and if there is not a
valid list of electors.

The Councillors that form a Council only have about three actual
tasks (one if it is not an electoral registration district). One is
to appoint an electoral registration officer, another is to appoint
a returning officer and the third is to set a budget. It is all
very well to identify a Code of conduct for Cllrs. However, it is
reasonably meaningless when they fail to observe their functions
(duties).

There appears to have been a universal failure of Monitoring
Officers for all Council's that act as Electoral Registration
Districts to ensure that the Authority's that they represent
actually function as Council's. What guidance has the Standards
Board for England provided to Councillors to enable them to
identify that their Council's monitoring officer is encouraging
them to break the law by not ensuring that they meet their duties,
and in doing so enabling the officers to act in breach of the Code
of Conduct on behalf of elected representatives, or in the officers
own interests.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke Carruthers

Dear Mr Carruthers

Our Reference: FOI L0382 / SBE-02043-RP0V6

Thank you for your email of 8 September 2008.

The Standards Board provides guidance in relation to the Code of Conduct
primarily. We have also provided information to members on
predetermination and bias which is not a Code issue but has generated a
high level of interest. All the guidance we provide is published on our
website.
http://www.standardsboard.gov.uk/TheCode...

Your query relates to the operation of a council and the conduct of
council officers who are employees of the authority. If you believe the
council is not following the law, this might be an issue for the Local
Government Ombudsman or the council's external auditor. You would
firstly need to raise any complaint you wished to make through the
council's internal complaints procedure.

With reference to the information you have requested under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000, the Standards Board has not produced any
guidance on the issues you have raised.

If you have a complaint about the way in which your request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has been dealt
with you should write to Paul Hoey, Head of Strategy & Guidance at the
above address. He will undertake a full re-evaluation of your case.

If, following review of the matter by the Head of Strategy & Guidance
you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request you have the
right under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted our complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

I hope I have been of assistance.

Yours sincerely

James Cessford
Policy Adviser

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

s2 of the Local Government Act 1972 defines a Council. A Council is
expected to appoint both an Electoral Registration Officer and an
Electoral Returning Officer according to the Representation of the
People Act.

Provision of this linkage between the Council Officers means and
the Councillors means that they owe a duty of care to their
constituents. If the linkage does not exist officers are able to
engage in activities on behalf of elected representatives that
breach the General Obligations of Councillors.

What guidance has the Standards Board issued to Local Authorities
on this issue, as there are now very few Council's in England, and
very few Councillors. It is very difficult to return one if a
returning officer has not been appointed, and if there is not a
valid list of electors.

The Councillors that form a Council only have about three actual
tasks (one if it is not an electoral registration district). One is
to appoint an electoral registration officer, another is to appoint
a returning officer and the third is to set a budget. It is all
very well to identify a Code of conduct for Cllrs. However, it is
reasonably meaningless when they fail to observe their functions
(duties).

There appears to have been a universal failure of Monitoring
Officers for all Council's that act as Electoral Registration
Districts to ensure that the Authority's that they represent
actually function as Council's. What guidance has the Standards
Board for England provided to Councillors to enable them to
identify that their Council's monitoring officer is encouraging
them to break the law by not ensuring that they meet their duties,
and in doing so enabling the officers to act in breach of the Code
of Conduct on behalf of elected representatives, or in the officers
own interests.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke Carruthers

show quoted sections