Standards and Ethics

Standards committee

The standards committee of Herefordshire Council is appointed by the council, but makes decisions entirely independently of the Council. The chair of the committee is independent. 

Members of the standards committee

• J Bharier (Independent Member)
• I Fox (Independent Member)
• D Stevens (Independent Member)
• R Gething (Town & Parish Council Representative)
• M Morris (Town & Parish Council Representative)
• LO Barnett (Local Authority Representative)
• ACR Chappell (Local Authority Representative)

Substitutes:

• J Hardwick  (Local Authority Substitute)
• J Stone (Local Authority Substitute)
• Vacant (Parish & Town Council Substitute)
• Vacant (Parish & Town Council Substitute)

Annual Reports

You can read the standards committee's annual reports by clicking the following link:
Read our Annual Report

The role of the standards committee

The standards committee promotes high standards of conduct by members of Herefordshire Council and the town and parish councils in the county, and deals with complaints about the conduct of members of Herefordshire Council and the town and parish councils in the county.

What complaints can the standards committee deal with?

The committee can consider only complaints that allege that a councillor has failed to comply with the council's Code of Conduct.

The standards committee can normally consider complaints about the behaviour of a councillor only when the councillor was acting in their capacity as a councillor or gave the impression that they were acting in that capacity.  For exceptions to that and a full explanation, see the detail in the Code of Conduct.

Examples of the type of behaviour that might be considered a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct are:

• Not treating others with respect;
• Bullying and intimidation;
• Compromising the impartiality of the council;
• Disclosing confidential information;
• Bringing the office or the council into disrepute
• Using their position as a councillor to secure an advantage or disadvantage for themselves or any other person;
• Misuse of the council's resources.

These are just examples. For detailed information, see the Code of Conduct.

Making a complaint

If you want to make a complaint against a councillor, your complaint must be made in writing to the standards committee. There is a complaint form for this purpose. You can get this form from the Complaints page, or from the monitoring officer at the council (The Monitoring Officer, Assistant Director - Law and Governance), Brockington, 35 Hafod Road, Hereford HR1 1SH, Telephone 01432 260200.) Otherwise, you can send a letter of complaint by post, fax or e-mail to the monitoring officer at cchapman@herefordshire.gov.uk.  If you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to make a written complaint, please let us know and we can provide help.

The standards committee can only deal with complaints about the behaviour of a member. It will not deal with complaints about things that are not covered by the members' Code of Conduct. If you make a complaint to the standards committee it must be about why you think a member has not followed the Code of Conduct.

What happens when you make a complaint

The council's monitoring officer supports the standards committee and receives all complaints. When the monitoring officer receives your complaint, they will check that it relates to a potential failure to comply with the Code of Conduct. If it does not, they will let you know and your complaint will not be put to the standards committee.

If the monitoring officer decides that your complaint involves an allegation that a councillor may have failed to comply with the Code of Conduct, the monitoring officer will refer the complaint to the standards committee.

The monitoring officer will normally tell the councillor concerned that the standards committee has received a complaint about their conduct. They will also normally tell the councillor the name of the person who has made the complaint. You can ask the committee not to disclose your identity if you have good reason to think you will be at risk of physical harm, intimidation or recrimination, or if you have a serious health condition that might be affected.

For further information, contact the standards committee by emailing Heather Donaldson at hdonaldson@herefordshire.gov.uk