The Standards Committee of Westminster City Council was scheduled to hold a meeting to discuss its work programme, a review of the Member/Officer Protocol, and an annual update on member complaints. The Committee was also scheduled to receive questions from Councillors to put to the Leader of the Council on ethical standards in relation to Members.

Review of the Member/Officer Protocol

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on a review undertaken of the Member/Officer Protocol. This review was requested by Councillor Md Shamsed Chowdhury at the meeting of the Committee held on 22 February 2024. In that meeting, Councillor Chowdhury said, as the Protocol was developed in 2022 some of the newly elected Councillors would not have had time to constructively feed into the consultation on the Protocol.¹ Councillor Sara Hassan requested that the issue of diversity be included in the review.

Annual Q&A with the Leader of the Council on Ethical Standards

The Committee was also scheduled to submit questions to the Leader of the Council on ethical standards in relation to Members. The Local Government Act 2000 requires local authorities to have in place arrangements for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by members and officers. This is commonly achieved through the adoption of a code of conduct, which sets out the standards of behaviour expected of those covered by it.

Work Programme

The Committee was scheduled to review the proposed work programme for 2024-2025. The work programme can be found in Appendix 2 to the report. The work programme included the following items:

• Annual Q&A with the Leader of the Council on Ethical Standards
• Review of the Member/Officer Protocol
• Annual Update on Member Complaints
• Annual Code of Conduct Review

Annual Update on Member Complaints

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on complaints against members. The report was prepared by Parveen Akhtar, a member of the council staff.