Lord Nolan gets tough

Nolan: Problems are on a small scale

Nolan Advocates New Offence of Misusing Public Office

The recommendation is in a consultation paper published alongside the committee's review of local government. It recommends replacing the system of surcharges on local councillors with a new system of regulations.

Lord Nolan said he had not found a worrying level of corruption in local government, but there were areas - such as planning - where changes could be made to alter public misconceptions, and to demonstrate that everything was above board.

Councils face new regulations

At present auditors can levy unlimited fines on councillors who misuse public money. In the 1970s the powers were used against Labour councillors from Claycross in Derbyshire who refused to put up council rents.

The most recent case arose in Conservative-controlled Westminster in London. Six councillors and officers there are fighting a £31 million surcharge. It was imposed after auditors found evidence that council houses in marginal electoral wards were being sold to people thought to be Conservative supporters.

The committee does not refer to individual cases. But it says the present system can be unfair because it applies only to local government and the punishment can often be out of all proportion to the wrong-doing.

It suggests that serious misbehaviour should be dealt with through the courts, using a new offence of misuse of public office. It would apply not just to local government but ministers and civil servants, and the 40,000 members of more than 1,100 quangos. It covers serious wrongdoing, falling short of bribery and corruption.

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, has said already that he will deal with the more serious cases in new legislation. He proposes a separate offence of corruption to cover both public and private sectors, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.

Councils to have standards committee

Among Nolan's 39 recommendations dealing specifically with local councils are proposals to clarify and toughen up the enforcement of the rules on standards. They include:

• Scrapping the present national code of conduct for councillors in favour of tailor-made codes for each local authority.
• Each council having a standards committee to decide what is appropriate behaviour, and with powers to recommend disciplining members.
• The creation of a new Local Government Tribunal to act as an independent arbiter on councils' codes of conduct.
• The involvement of the courts in imposing penalties for misconduct.
• Greater clarity of the planning rules.
• Improved rules on whistle-blowing and wider access to council complaints procedures.