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We are not a banana republic
• ROBIN Young is entitled to have his own opinion on the Standards Board for England (Well done to Brian for exposing planning murk, Dec 21), however it is important to highlight the factual errors that he makes when criticising the Standards Board.
Firstly, it is important to note that contrary to Mr Young’s assertion, the Standards Board has no powers to sanction members and does not carry out any “banana republic court martial”.
The role of the Standards Board is to look into the fact of a case and then refer the matter for determination where appropriate.
Local hearings are carried out by local standards committees, which are made up of members’ own peers and local people from the community.
If Mr Young’s opinion is that members are not given a fair hearing, I suggest he speaks to the chair of his local standards committee.
Again contrary to Mr Young’s assertions, members also have a route of appeal open to them if they feel that the decision against them is unfair. This includes appealing to the Adjudication Panel and to the High Court.
Local councils can also take out indemnity cover to assist members in the cost of cases where no breach of the Code of Conduct is found.
We agree that members should be free to represent the people who elect them and the Standards Board does not seek prevent this.
PATRICIA HUGHES
Deputy Chair of the Standards Board for England
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