We have a duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by councillors. The Code of Conduct sets out the standards that members are expected to observe.
Individual members must comply with the Code of Conduct and any other legal obligations which may apply to them from time to time. Action can be taken against them if they don't.
The Code of Conduct is consistent with the seven general principles of conduct:
- selflessness
- integrity
- objectivity
- accountability
- openness
- honesty
- leadership
The Code of Conduct provides details of the types of financial or other interests that they may need to declare.
The Code of Conduct also includes details of how to register these interests.
- Code of Conduct for Members and Co-Opted Members, in Part 4 of our Constitution
- Councillor/ Officer Protocol, is in Part 4 of our Constitution
- See “Section 10 – Gifts and Hospitality” of the Code of Conduct for Members and Co-Opted Members in Part 4 of our Constitution
A breach of the code may lead to a complaint being made under our standards arrangements.
Guide for councillors on openness and transparency on personal interests
Register of Members’ Interests
Our Councillor’s Register of interest records interests declared by members and co-opted members. Councillors have to keep this up-to-date and declare any changes.
All members, co-opted members of district, and parish councils must complete a register of interests form to register their financial and other interests.
Councillors must provide the following details:
- any employment or business, including:
- the name of their employer
- name of any firms at which they are a partner
- details of any directorships held
- people who paid towards their expenses
- contracts between themselves or their firm and the council
- interests in any land or property in the area
- any licences to occupy land in the area
- any tenancies held where the council is the landlord
- membership of organisations, including bodies to which they have been appointed by the council
- any offer of gifts or hospitality of a value over £50 that they have received in their capacity as a member
Members must complete a register of interests form within 28 days of being elected.
Select a District Councillor from the list of councillors to view their registered interests
Our Monitoring Officer maintains the full register of district and parish councillors’ interests. You can arrange to see this by appointment, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm at South Lakeland House, Kendal.
To arrange an appointment, please contact Committee Services.
Registration forms for councillors
- Declaration of Interests form for Members and Co-optees (DOC , 202KB)
- Gifts and Hospitality Form (PDF , 47KB)
Register of Dispensations
In some circumstances, a councillor or co-optee is allowed to take part in council business even if they have a financial interest in it. These are set out in our Register of Dispensations from Section 31(4) of the Localism Act 2011.
Councillors' register of dispensations
Standards and Governance Committee
The role of the committee is to monitor and assist us to promote and maintain high standards of conduct and to advise members, co-opted members and parish councillors about the operation of the codes of conduct.
The codes of conduct seek to ensure that councillors are open, fair and transparent in the conduct of their official duties. That councillors respect others in the conduct of their public lives and ensure that any decision making on behalf of their council is properly carried out.
The committee is made up of seven councillors, four reserve members and the two independent people (in a non-voting capacity).
The main functions of the committee are to:
- promote and maintain high standards of conduct by councillors and co-opted members
- assist councillors and co opted members to observe the codes of conduct
- monitor the operation of the codes of conduct
Arrangements for Dealing with Standards Allegations under the Localism Act 2011 (PDF , 490KB)
Standards and Governance Committee Agenda, Reports and Minutes
View local determinations by the Standards Sub-Committee
Independent Persons
Under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, the Council is required to appoint an Independent Person to assist the Council in promoting high standards of conduct amongst Elected Members and Parish and Town Councillors.
The Independent Person will be consulted by the Monitoring Officer/Standards Committee on a decision to investigate an allegation of a breach of the Code of Conduct by a Councillor and prior to a decision being made on an investigated complaint. In addition, the Independent Person can be contacted by the Member of the Authority against whom an allegation has been made.
Westmorland and Furness Council has appointed Mr David Tweddle and Mr P Kuit as Independent Persons.
David Tweddle
David Tweddle was a police officer for Cumbria Constabulary for 30 years, achieving the rank of Detective Inspector. As a police officer he was involved, with the Police Federation, in representing colleagues who fell foul of the police code of conduct.
He then joined the Constabulary’s legal department before moving to the Professional Standards Department where he investigated complaints made by the public against the police officers and civilian staff.
As a police staff member, he became a representative of UNISON and represented and supported colleagues who had allegations made against them. Mr Tweddle then spent 9 years as an Associate Inspector with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary before retiring in February 2021
Mr Tweddle first became involved in local government standards when he joined Eden District Council in 2007 as an Independent Member of the Standards Committee which he chaired from 2009. In this role he utilised his experience in dealing with complaints from both sides to the benefit of Councillors, the Council, and most importantly the public.
On his new role as South Lakeland District Council’s Independent Person, Mr Tweddle has said, “I am delighted to have been chosen as Independent Person for South Lakeland District Council, and believe the new legislation provides more opportunity to deal with complaints in a reasonable, proportionate manner avoiding where possible costly investigations and seeking to find some form of local resolution to issues raised.”
Mr Tweddle said he believes strongly in the following principles:
For the public:
- believe it is essential any complaints process has a degree of independence, Important that people are aware they have a right to complain and the system is easily accessible
- complaints will be taken seriously and dealt with promptly
In respect of Members complained against, complaints will be dealt with in a fair, open, prompt, and proportionate manner.
Peter Kuit
Prior to his appointment as Independent Person for Westmorland and Furness Council Peter fulfilled the same role for Barrow Borough Council, both appointments following open advertisement and interview by elected members.
His application reflects a continuing interest in helping to achieve strong local government and follows a long, varied and successful career in public service. Qualifying initially as a Town Planner Peter was active at all levels within planning culminating as Director of Development for Preston City Council.
He also pursued roles related to corporate / multi-disciplinary management, the restructuring of local government, as well as, economic development and regeneration in both the North West and North East regions.
The sheer breadth of his experience means that he has contributed to the resolution of problems across a very wide range of complex and sensitive situations, including many related to senior elected members. This includes a number investigations into allegations of misconduct at a senior level and close working with leading consultants and government departments.
Since retiring Peter has carried out voluntary work, for example, as a Business Mentor for the NWDA (2009/11); as a non-executive Director and Chair of Enterprise Answers (2010/15) : a local bank which makes preferential loans to Cumbrian businesses ; as an Independent Non-Executive Board Member and Vice Chair of South Lakes Housing (2011/19). He is currently a NHS Lay Representative for North Cumbria and North East England and is particularly involved in helping to validate the training of doctors.
Throughout his working and voluntary life Peter has been engaged in high level communication and the development of sound policies and procedures. He believes the still new Westmorland and Furness Council should incorporate the highest possible standards and sees his role as Independent Person as an important opportunity to contribute to this process.
Make a complaint about a councillor
The Code of Conduct in set out in part four of the Council Constitution.
Anyone can report a breach of the Code of Conduct by a Councillor. The complaint must relate to a Westmorland and Furness Councillor or Town or Parish Councillor.
If you want to make a complaint about the conduct of an elected or co-opted member of Westmorland and Furness Council or a member of a town or parish council within our area, you should read and complete the below complaint form and submit it to: monitoringofficer@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Councillor complaint form (PDF , 269KB)
Complete the form carefully so that the Monitoring Officer has all the information they needed to process your complaint.
The Monitoring Officer will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, and will keep you informed of progress.
The Monitoring Officer can only deal with complaints about the alleged behaviour and conduct of a member. They will not deal with complaints about the council as a whole, or any of the council’s departments or matters not covered by the code of conduct.
These complaints are dealt with by a separate process, you can make a complaint against the council.
Procedure for dealing with complaints against individual members
The Monitoring Officer will review every complaint received and, after consultation with the Independent Person and Chair of the Council’s Standards and Governance Committee, take a decision as to whether it merits formal investigation.
This decision will normally be taken within 10 working days of receipt of your complaint. Where the Monitoring Officer has taken a decision, they will inform you of their decision and the reasons for that decision.
In certain cases the Monitoring Officer may refer particular complaints to the Standards and Governance Committee where they feel that it would be inappropriate for them to take a decision on it, for example where the Monitoring Officer has previously advised the member on the matter or the complaint is particularly sensitive.
Where the Monitoring Officer requires additional information in order to come to a decision, they may come back to you for such information, and may request information from the member against whom your complaint is directed.
Where your complaint relates to a Parish Councillor, the Monitoring Officer may also inform the Parish Council of your complaint and seek the views of the Parish Clerk before deciding whether the complaint merits formal investigation.
In appropriate cases, the Monitoring Officer may seek to resolve the complaint informally, without the need for a formal investigation. Such informal resolution may involve the member accepting that their conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology, or other remedial action by the authority.
Where the member or the authority make a reasonable offer of local resolution, but you are not willing to accept that offer, the Monitoring Officer will take account of this in deciding whether the complaint merits formal investigation.
If your complaint identifies criminal conduct or breach of other regulation by any person, the Monitoring Officer has the power to call in the Police and other regulatory agencies.
What happens next
If the Monitoring Officer decides that a complaint merits formal investigation, they will appoint an Investigating Officer, who may be another senior officer of the authority, an officer of another authority or an external investigator. The Investigating Officer will decide whether they need to meet or speak to you to understand the nature of your complaint, so that you can explain your understanding of events, suggest what documents the Investigating Officer needs to see, and who the Investigating Officer needs to interview.
The Investigating Officer would normally write to the member against whom you have complained and provide them with a copy of your complaint, and ask the member to provide their explanation of events, and to identify what documents they need to see and who they need to interview. In exceptional cases, where it is appropriate to keep your identity confidential or disclosure of details of the complaint to the member might prejudice the investigation, the Monitoring Officer can delete your name and address from the papers given to the member, or delay notifying the member until the investigation has progressed sufficiently.
At the end of their investigation, the Investigating Officer will produce a draft report and will send copies of that draft report, in confidence, to you and to the member concerned, to give you both an opportunity to identify any matter in that draft report which you disagree with or which you consider requires more consideration. Having received and taken account of any comments which you may make on the draft report, the Investigating Officer will send their final report to the Monitoring Officer.
Local resolution
The Monitoring Officer may consider that the matter can reasonably be resolved without the need for a hearing.
In such a case, they will consult with the Independent Person and with you as complainant and seek to agree what you consider to be a fair resolution which also helps to ensure higher standards of conduct for the future.
Such resolution may include the member accepting that their conduct was unacceptable and offering an apology, and/or other remedial action by the authority. If the member complies with the suggested resolution, the Monitoring Officer will report the matter to the Standards and Governance Committee and the Parish Council for information, but will take no further action.
However, if you tell the Monitoring Officer that any suggested resolution would not be adequate, the Monitoring Officer will refer the matter for a local hearing.
Local Hearing
If the Monitoring Officer considers that local resolution is not appropriate, or you are not satisfied by the proposed resolution, or the member concerned is not prepared to undertake any proposed remedial action, such as giving an apology, then the Monitoring Officer will report the Investigating Officer’s report to the Hearings Panel which will conduct a local hearing before deciding whether the member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and, if so, whether to take any action in respect of the member.
The Council has agreed a procedure for local hearings, insert link to “agreed procedure for local hearings about the personal conduct of council members. Hard copies are available on request. This information will be supplied to complainants where complaints reach this stage.
Sanctions available to the Standards and Governance Committee
The Council has delegated to the Hearings Panel such of its powers to take action in respect of individual members as may be necessary to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.
Accordingly, the Hearings Panel may:
- publish its findings in respect of the Member’s conduct
- send a formal letter to the Member
- report its findings to Council or to the Parish Council for information
- recommend to the Member’s Group Leader (or in the case of un-grouped members, recommend to Council or to Committees) that they be removed from any or all Committees or Sub-Committees of the Council
- recommend to the Leader of the Council that the Member be removed from the Cabinet, or removed from particular Portfolio responsibilities
- instruct the Monitoring Officer to or recommend that the Parish Council arrange training for the member
- remove or recommend to the Parish Council that the member be removed from all outside appointments to which they have been appointed or nominated by the authority or by the Parish Council
- withdraw or recommend to the Parish Council that it withdraws certain facilities provided to the member by the Council
- exclude or recommend that the Parish Council exclude the member from the Council’s offices or other premises, with the exception of meeting rooms as necessary for attending Council, Committee and Sub-Committee meetings.
The Hearings Panel has no power to suspend or disqualify the member or to withdraw members’ or special responsibility allowances.
Appeals
There is no right of appeal for you as complainant or for the member against a decision of the Monitoring Officer or of the Hearings Panel If you feel that the authority has failed to deal with your complaint properly, you may make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.