Independent Persons To Help Scrutinise Council Ethics

Two independent people have been appointed to help oversee a new code of conduct at Bolsover District Council.
 
Stephen Wainwright of Clay Cross and Mike Wood of Bolsover will provide help and advice on any allegations or complaints made against District, Parish and Town Councillors across Bolsover District.
 
As part of the Localism Act 2011, we were required to appoint at least one independent person, but we appointed two to give the role some resilience. These representatives must be consulted by the Monitoring Officer at certain stages of dealing with a complaint against a member and may be asked for advice by the councillor subject to the complaint.

Council Leader, Councillor Eion Watts said, “It is important that our local residents have faith in investigations into complaints against councillors and these two independent people will provide that independence. We had a large amount of interest in the two positions and we feel we have appointed the right people, with the right background to help us maintain the highest possible ethical standards amongst our elected representatives.”

We recognise that promoting high ethical standards is the cornerstone of good governance and maintains public confidence in local democracy. The new code is based around the principles of selflessness, integrity, honesty, objectivity, accountability, openness and leadership.

Date issued: 7th August 2012

Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 August 2012 13:03