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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to mandate standards committees with lay member involvement in principal authorities to ensure impartiality in misconduct cases.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.