The Standards Committee of Hertfordshire County Council is scheduled to meet on Monday 8 December 2025. The agenda includes a discussion of the committee's responsibilities, proposed changes to the standards regime, and a review of complaints made against councillors.

Proposed Changes to the Standards Regime

The committee will be briefed on the government's response to a consultation on strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities. The consultation followed the publication of the English Devolution White Paper.

The government's objectives are to address gaps in the current system, improve consistency, and restore public confidence in local governance. The intention is to legislate for whole system reform of the current regime as set out in the Localism Act 2011¹.

Key proposals include:

• Introducing a mandatory code of conduct with the Nolan Principles² at its heart.
• Requiring all principal authorities to convene formal standards committees.
• Requiring all principal authorities to offer individual support during code of conduct investigations.
• Introducing a 'right to review' for both complainant and the subject councillor.
• Granting authorities the power to suspend councillors for a maximum of 6 months for serious code of conduct breaches, with the option to withhold allowances and institute premises and facilities bans.
• Introducing powers to suspend councillors on an interim basis for an initial period of 3 months in response to serious allegations.
• Creating a new disqualification criterion for any councillor subject to the maximum period of suspension more than once within 5 years.
• Creating a new national appeals function.

According to the report pack, the proposed changes constitute a significant change to the existing regime and may result in additional activity in administering the system, including increased use of external resources such as investigators. The Director of Law & Governance, Quentin Baker, notes that there is no timescale yet for the necessary legislation, so there is a need to monitor developments and report back when necessary. He anticipates that implementation will happen in late 2026 or early 2027.

Annual Complaints Report 2024/2025

The committee will review the annual complaints report for 2024/2025. During the period from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, the Monitoring Officer received 16 complaints, of which 12 were not within jurisdiction and 4 warranted no further action.

The report includes a summary of each complaint, including the date, summary, and outcome. Examples include:

• A complaint about a councillor not responding to emails, which was deemed not to constitute a breach of the code of conduct.
• A complaint about a councillor's conduct during a cabinet meeting, regarding their attitude towards families of SEND[^4] service users.
• A complaint about a councillor's social media post that was considered unsupportive of a local school, but the initial assessment concluded that the complaint did not accurately reflect the content of the post and did not constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct.

Responsibilities and Delegated Powers of the Standards Committee

The committee will be reminded of its responsibilities and delegated powers, as outlined in Annex 3 of the council's constitution. These include:

• Promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by councillors.
• Advising the council on the adoption or revision of the Code of Conduct.
• Assisting councillors to observe the Code of Conduct.
• Monitoring the operation of the Code of Conduct.
• Advising on training of and arrangements for training councillors on matters relating to the Code of Conduct.
• Hearing and determining complaints about councillors referred to the committee by the Monitoring Officer.
• Granting dispensations from the requirements relating to interests set out in the Code of Conduct.
• Appointing sub-committees for the purpose of conducting a substantive hearing of a complaint.
• Recommending actions to be taken in the event of a finding that a councillor has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct.
• Exercising the council's power to approve a reason for a councillor's failure to attend meetings.
• Considering proposed amendments to the County Council's Constitution and making recommendations to Full Council.

The report pack notes that the Standards Committee has a membership of 10 county councillors.

Dispensation in Respect of the Council's Budget

The committee is scheduled to receive a verbal update from the Director of Law & Governance, Quentin Baker, regarding dispensation in respect of the council's budget.