Creation of the Commission for Ethical Standards in Public Life
The "Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on
9 June 2010 and enabled the creation of the Commission for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland ( CESPLS). The Commission, a corporate body, comprises of the former functions of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner ( SPSC), the Chief Investigating Officer ( CIO) and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland ( OCPAS).
The new body which came into being on 1 April 2011 and is referred to as the 'Commission'. The two functions within the Commission are discharged by the Public Standards Commissioner for Scotland and the Public Appointments Commissioner for Scotland. The Public Standards Commissioner is to carry out the functions formerly exercised by the CIO and the SPSC. The other member of the CESPLS, the Public Appointments Commissioner, is to carry out the functions previously undertaken by the OCPAS.
From 1 April 2011 the Parliamentary corporation became the sponsoring body for the Standards Commission for Scotland, which will remain as an independent adjudication body for determining standards issues in relation to councillors and members of devolved public bodies. Amongst other things the Bill standardised the accountability and governance arrangements for the CESPLS with the other officeholders and bodies supported by the Parliamentary corporation, including the Standards Commission for Scotland. Details of the Bill along with explanatory notes are available on the Scottish Parliament website .
Councillors' Code of Conduct - 3rd edition, 21 December 2010
The Scottish Government concluded its consultation on the Councillors' Code of Conduct and in March 2010 published the responses to it. The revised Code was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 27 October 2010 and following the laying of Scottish Statutory Instrument 2010 No. 392, the 3rd edition of the Code of Conduct was published on 21 December 2010.
The changes take into account the experience of operating the ethical standards framework since 2003 (when it was introduced), particularly in relation to the declaration of interests and also the new statutory provisions relating to planning which came into effect during 2009.
Standards Commission Roadshows
The Standards Commission for Scotland held roadshows in Glasgow, Ayr, Edinburgh and Inverness in February and March and more recently held further roadshows in the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney to support the introduction of the revised Councillors' Code of Conduct. The sessions included all sections of the Code which have been subject to change and some useful feedback on the changes and implementation of the Code was gathered. The feedback will help to contribute to supplementary guidance which will become available later this year to support the Code.
Standards Commission in new location
The Standards Commission moved to the Scottish Parliament on 26 October 2011. The contact details are as follows:-
Ms Janet Nixon
Secretary to the Commission
Room T2.21
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Tel: 0131 348 6666
Fax: 0131 557 9243
Email: enquiries@standardscommission.org.uk