The new ethical framework
The new ethical framework was introduced under the Local Government Act 2000. It provides rules for councillors and officers about openness and honesty in their conduct and a rigorous mechanism for tackling infringements.
The Code of Conduct
As part of the framework, all councils have had to adopt a code of conduct. All councillors must sign up to it. It is based on a national model that features stringent standards. The code sets out 10 general principles:
- Selflessness
- Honesty and integrity
- Objectivity
- Accountability
- Openness
- Personal judgement
- Respect for others
- Duty to uphold the law
- Stewardship
- Leadership.
North Lincolnshire Council adopted the current code on 23 May 2007 and all members of the council have signed up to it.
Councillors have to declare their interests in two ways. If they have a significant personal interest affecting their impartiality on a matter discussed at a meeting, they should not take part and should leave when these issues are considered.
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Councillors must also declare a range of other interests. These are kept in a register that anyone can inspect at council offices. To do so please contact Steve Whittemore in Democratic Services on 01724 296232.
North Lincolnshire Council is also responsible for maintaining the registers for parish and town councils in their area. The clerks to those councils also have copies.
Download forms and guidance
North Lincolnshire Council and Parish/Town Council
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The council's Standards Committee reviews and advises on the code of conduct.
Complaints
From May 2007 complaints against members of North Lincolnshire Council and the Town and Parish Councils in the area should be made to the Chair of North Lincolnshire Council's Standards Committee.
The government is preparing a code of conduct for officers. It will introduce this code in the near future.
Note: The above document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need a suitable reader to view it. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).