The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 7) is an

Act of the Scottish Parliament An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create Acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successfu ...

which established that the Scottish Ministers had to issue a code of conduct for councillors, and put in place mechanisms for dealing with councillors in contravention of the code. It was introduced by Scottish Executive minister

Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander (born 27 June 1963) is a retired Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland ...

. The Act was most notable for its repeal of

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

of the

Local Government Act 1988 The United Kingdom Local Government Act 1988 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament. It was famous for its controversial section 28. This section prohibited local authorities from promoting, in a specified category of schools, "the teachi ...

in Scotland, which had prevented local authorities from "the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." This repeal was highly controversial, and

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

founder

Brian Souter Sir Brian Souter (born 5 May 1954) is a Scottish businessman. With his sister, Ann Gloag, he founded the Stagecoach Group of bus and rail operators. He also founded the bus and coach operator Megabus, the train operating company South West Tra ...

led a campaign against it. The bill did require that councils would, in their dealings with children, have to regard the value of a stable family relationship, and that any education about family life would be appropriate to the child's age and development. It passed on 21 June 2000 with 99 votes for and 17 against, with 2 abstentions, and received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 4 July 2000. The

Local Government Act 2003 The Local Government Act 2003 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made various changes to the administration of local government in the United Kingdom. Although it contained mainly financial provisions, section 122 repea ...

repealed Section 28 in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

three years later.

Ethical Standards in Public Life framework

A framework and

Code of Conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...

was established which applied to

Local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s and members of

Scottish public bodies Public bodies of the Scottish Government are organisations that are funded by the Scottish Government. They form a tightly meshed network of executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies ("quangoes"); tribunals; and nationalised industr ...

. The Act applies to Executive non-departmental public bodies, NHS Public Bodies,

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...

and

further education colleges in Scotland Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band) Furthur was a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and ...

Standards Commission for Scotland

The

Standards Commission for Scotland The Standards Commission for Scotland is an independent body that has the purpose of advancing high ethical standards in public life. Its main tool is the promotion and enforcement of Codes of Conduct for councillors (approved by the Scottish Parl ...

is responsible for enforcing the Code of Conduct. They act upon reports presented by the Chief Investigation Officer, a separate office. Members of the commission are appointed by Scottish Ministers. The commission has a protocol for shared aims and objectives with the

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the organisation that handles complaints about public services in Scotland. The Ombudsman service is independent of government and with a duty to act impartially. The SPSO is responsible for lookin ...

Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland (CESPLS) is responsible for investigating any complaints made under the Code of Conduct. They are appointed by the Scottish Ministers and are operationally independent of the Standards Commission. The CESPLS will make a determination if the complaint is relevant or if another body can assist the complainant; the CESPLS must explain their decision. If an investigation is carried out the CESPLS will produce a report for the commission. The commission can choose to direct the CESPLS to conduct further investigations, convene a hearing or do neither. From 17 January 2002 to 31 March 2011 the CESPLS was known as the Chief Investigating Officer (CIO).

Restricted applicability

The Act does not cover the conduct of

Members of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The add ...

, Scottish Ministers, employees of the Scottish Government or public bodies not mentioned in the Act. These complaints are handled by the

Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner was the independent watchdog that dealt with complaints about Member of the Scottish Parliaments between 2002 and 2010. History The role was created by the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commi ...

for MSPs, the

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

for ministers and

for employees of the Scottish Government. Other complaints need to be forwarded to the Scottish Government. The Act is designed to apply to officers and members who are responsible for spending public money, as such the public bodies not covered usually spend a limited amount of public money. Such bodies include

Community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

s which spend little, if any, public money. Further, certain public bodies cannot be covered due to legal restrictions arising from how they were established.Why are some public bodies not included in the Ethical Standards Framework:

References

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