Ethical standards clinic
Under the new framework, the Standards Committee can refer the
complaint received to the Standards Board for England (SBE). The
SBE can decide to refer the complaint to an ethical standards
officer, refer it back to the Standards Committee, or decide that
no action can be taken. Is there a right of appeal by either the
Standards Committee or the complainant against this decision?
There does not appear to be any statutory right of review
provided to either the complainant or the Standards Committee if
the SBE decides that no action should be taken in relation to the
complaint made about a breach of the code by a member. This is
contrasted to the position where the decision is made by the
Standards Committee that no action should be taken and the
complainant is given a statutory right of review. It is likely
however that the SBE’s current system of handling referrals will be
applied to the process of deciding whether to either:
- Refer the complaint to an ethical standards officer; or
- Decide no action should be taken; or
- Refer the complaint back to the Standards Committee.
The above decision is likely to be delegated to officers, and
where the decision is to take no action, the SBE’s process is
likely to provide a complainant with the right of review to the
Chief Executive. We will need to wait and see what the SBE’s
approach will be in these circumstances. It is unlikely however
that the Standards committee will be given any right of review of
the SBE’s decision not to take action.