Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to strengthen the role of monitoring officers in local authorities.

The Government has no plans to change the role of monitoring officers in local authorities.

The role of the monitoring officer is to ensure that the council operates within the law. Monitoring officers have a specific duty to:

• Report on matters they believe are, or may be, illegal or amount to maladministration;

• Investigate concerns about the conduct of councillors and officers; and

• Oversee the operation, review and updating of the constitution, including to provide advice on the interpretation of the constitution, and make determinations where necessary.