- \n
- Selflessness <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Honesty and integrity <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Objectivity <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Accountability <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Openness <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Personal judgment <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Respect for others <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Duty to uphold the law <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Stewardship <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leadership <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In Devon, councillors are expected to perform and maintain their duties within the following ethics and standards:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Code of Conduct<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Localism Act 2011<\/a> requires councils to adopt a Code of Conduct which deals with the conduct expected of its elected and co-opted members when they are acting in their official capacity. The Code of Conduct is also required to include appropriate provisions relating to the registration and disclosure of pecuniary and other interests.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The County Council\u2019s Code of Conduct<\/a> can be found in section 6a of the Constitution. The Council regularly reviews its Code of Conduct. A full review was undertaken in 2022 and a new Code adopted in May 2022. The Standards Committee undertake an annual review of the Code, the last review being March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standards Committee<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The County Council\u2019s\u202fStandards Committee\u202f<\/a>is a group of people appointed by the Council to help it maintain and promote high ethical standards. The Committee is made up of councillors and co-opted members drawn from the community (who are not councillors or employees of the County Council).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local Protocol<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The County Council has adopted its own local protocol governing relations between councillors and professional officers, alongside a newly developed Local Member Protocol – \u2018Think Local Member\u2019.\u00a0 This can be found in section 6h of the\u202fConstitution.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monitoring Officer<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The County Council employs a Monitoring Officer who is responsible for advising the Council and its councillors on matters of conduct and ethics. Ultimately, however, each person is accountable for the propriety of their own actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more about the County Council\u2019s Code of Conduct and councillor complaints procedure.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further information<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Local Government Association (LGA) has produced various \u2018Councillor conduct and standards\u2019<\/a> resources to support councillors to maintain high standards in public life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LGA have also worked closely with other organisations to coordinate a programme of work called \u2018Civility in public life\u2019<\/a>, parts of which are aimed at articulating good standards for councillors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Still have questions? Join one of our free information sessions online or in person, download our printable information guide or, if you\u2019re ready to take the next step, learn more about the nomination process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n![\"information](\"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2024\/09\/image-56-1.svg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nJoin an information<\/a>
session<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"information](\"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2024\/09\/image-59-2.svg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nPrint an information
guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"information](\"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2024\/09\/image-58-1.svg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nThe nomination<\/a>
process<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being a councillor is an honourable calling that grants you a special status in public life. It is therefore essential that councillors are held accountable and maintain high standards while fulfilling their role.\u00a0 Nationally, the Committee on Standards in Public Life has highlighted ten principles of public life, they are: In Devon, councillors are expected…<\/p>\n ><\/span>","protected":false},"author":748,"featured_media":0,"parent":10164,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-10203","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-19 09:44:21","action":"Draft","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/748"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10203"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11234,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10203\/revisions\/11234"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/democracy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}