About Us
The Standards Commission is an independent body whose purpose is to encourage high ethical standards in public life through the promotion and enforcement of Codes of Conduct for councillors and those appointed to the boards of devolved public bodies.
News and Blog
Advice Note for Members of IJBs
6th November 2019
Following discussions with the Scottish Government, the Standards Commission has produced an Advice Note for Members of IJBs. The Advice Note aims to provide members with an overview of their responsibilities under the ethical standards framework. It seeks to assist members in recognising and dealing with potential conflicts of interest, and in interpreting the provisions in their IJBs Code of Conduct. Some examples of potential breaches of the Code have been included, in an...
Interim Suspensions
7th October 2019
Section 21 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 provides the Standards Commission with the power to impose an interim suspension on a councillor or member of a devolved public body on receipt of an interim report from the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland (ESC) on an ongoing investigation. A decision to impose an interim suspension is not, and should not be seen as, a finding on the merits or validity of any allegations against the...
Standards Update September 2019
30th September 2019
Our latest Standards Update can be found here.
Annual Report 2018-19
2nd September 2019
Our Annual Report for 2018/19 has been published and can be found here. The Annual Report contains information about the work we undertook last year in order to meet our strategic objectives. It also contains case statistics and summaries of the outcomes of the public Hearings we held and provides an overview of our governance arra...
Appeal Judgement
18th July 2019
The Standards Commission is pleased to note the terms of a judgement by the Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife in respect of an appeal lodged against a decision of one of its Hearing Panels. The Sheriff Principal refused the appeal in entirety and made no criticisms of the Panel’s decision or reasoning in respect of both breach and sanction. The Sheriff Principal was satisfied that the Panel had applied Article 10 of the ECHR correctly and that it had “carr...
Standards Update July 2019
4th July 2019
Our latest Standards Update can be found here.
Ethical Standards Act Section 19(6) Policy
10th May 2019
Section 19(6) of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 provides that the Standards Commission may, on imposing a suspension on a member of a devolved public body, direct that any remuneration or allowance deriving from membership of the body that would be payable to the member, not be paid or be reduced. A policy outlining the factors that a Hearing Panel of the Standards Commission will consider when deciding whether or not to make a direction under Section 19(6...
Standards Update March 2019
28th March 2019
Our latest Standards Update can be found here.
Hearings Flowchart
5th March 2019
A new flowchart showing, on a step by step basis, the procedures that are followed at our public Hearings can be found here.
New Standards Commission Member appointed
4th March 2019
We are pleased to announce that the Scottish Parliament approved the appointment of a new member of the Standards Commission, Ashleigh Dunn, who commenced in post on 4 March 2019. Ashleigh is an experienced Executive Director in public services and charity Trustee, specialising in organisational and leadership development. She is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and a Chartered Fellow CIPD. Ashleigh has over 20 years’ experience in NHS management, across the UK, h...
