{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/local-government-standards-committees-and-member-conduct-miscellaneous-amendments-wales-regulations-2025/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/local-government-standards-committees-and-member-conduct-miscellaneous-amendments-wales-regulations-2025/note.json",
  "legislation": "wsi/2025/1217",
  "legislation_title": "The Local Government (Standards Committees and Member Conduct) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/local-government-standards-committees-and-member-conduct-miscellaneous-amendments-wales-regulations-2025",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations amend—\n(a) the Standards Committees (Wales) Regulations 2001 (“the 2001 Regulations”),\n(b) the Conduct of Members (Principles) (Wales) Order 2001 (“the 2001 Order”), and\n(c) the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) (Wales) Order 2008 (“the 2008 Order”).\nPart 3 of the Local Government Act 2000 (“the Act”) makes provision concerning the conduct of local government members and employees.\nSection 53(1) of the Act requires every relevant authority in Wales to establish a standards committee. The 2001 Regulations make provision with respect to the size, composition and proceedings of standards committees and sub-committees, and the appointment, term of office and re-appointment of independent members to such committees.\nRegulation 2 inserts definitions of “politically restricted post”, “registration officer” and “senior, cabinet or executive post” into regulation 2 of the 2001 Regulations. It also amends regulation 6 of the 2001 Regulations to allow former members of one or more relevant authorities, a corporate joint committee, or a constituent authority or constituent National Park authority of any corporate joint committee, to serve as an independent member of a standards committee of a relevant authority or corporate joint committee.\nA waiting period of two years is imposed where the former member wishes to become an independent member of a standards committee of an authority in which they were a member, save where the former member held a senior, cabinet or executive post in the same authority, in which case the waiting period is five years.\nWhere the former member was a member of a corporate joint committee, or a constituent authority or constituent National Park authority of that corporate joint committee, a waiting period of two years is imposed before the former member can become an independent member of a standards committee of that corporate joint committee, save that, where the former member held a senior, cabinet or executive post in a constituent authority of that corporate joint committee, the waiting period is five years.\nRegulation 2 also amends regulation 7 of the 2001 Regulations to allow former officers of one or more relevant authorities, a corporate joint committee, a constituent authority or a constituent National Park authority, to serve as an independent member of a standards committee.\nA waiting period of two years is imposed where the former officer wishes to become an independent member of a standards committee of an authority in which they held a politically restricted post or the post of registration officer. The same waiting period applies with respect to the ability of a former officer to become an independent member of a standards committee of a corporate joint committee where the former officer held a politically restricted post in that corporate joint committee, or a constituent authority or constituent National Park authority of that corporate joint committee, or held the post of registration officer in a constituent authority of that corporate joint committee.\nSection 49(2) of the Act makes provision for the principles which govern the conduct of members and co-opted members of relevant authorities in Wales. These principles are set out in the Schedule to the 2001 Order. Section 50(2) of the Act makes provision for a model code as regards the conduct expected of members and co-opted members of relevant authorities in Wales. The Model Code of Conduct is set out in the Schedule to the 2008 Order.\nRegulation 3 inserts into article 2 of the 2001 Order a definition of “protected characteristics” by reference to the definition in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010. Regulation 3 also amends Principle 7 (equality and respect) of the Schedule to the 2001 Order by replacing the reference to “gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion” with “protected characteristics or socio-economic circumstances”.\nRegulation 4 inserts into paragraph 1 of the Model Code of Conduct as set out in the Schedule to the 2008 Order a definition of “protected characteristics” by reference to the definition in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010. It also amends paragraph 4 to replace the reference to “gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion” with “protected characteristics or socio-economic circumstances”.\nThe Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Local Government Division, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ and is published on www.gov.wales.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2025/1217/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T22:56:29.218816+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}