Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she will take to protect council staff from bullying; whether sanctions against such misconduct will be specified in legislation to strengthen the standards and conduct regime for local authorities, and when such legislation will be introduced.

The Government Response to the ‘Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England’ consultation, published on 11 November 2025, set out our intention to legislate for whole-system reform of the local government standards regime. The reforms include the introduction of a mandatory code covering issues such as discrimination, bullying and harassment, and social media use, as well as strengthened sanctions of suspension and withholding allowances for serious misconduct.

Government will bring forward the necessary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.