A review into how local government is supporting ethical standards is to be conducted by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

The Committee is calling for evidence on how effective councils’ standards arrangements are in the light of changes over the past ten years.

‘The Committee considers it is timely to undertake a health check of local government so the public can have confidence that the standards arrangements supporting local democracy are working effectively,’ said committee member, Dr Jane Martin.

Ms Martin, who will be leading the review, added: ‘We are interested in how local authorities have designed their complaints handling, scrutiny and sanctions regimes in order to maintain excellent ethical standards and how members, local government officials and the public experience them.

‘The Committee would like to hear from councils and individuals who can help us understand how ethical standards issues are dealt with by local authorities.’

The Committee is due to publish its findings and recommendations late in 2018.