The Local Government and Communities Committee reports to the Parliament as follows—

The revised Code of Conduct for Councillors (SG/2018/65) (the Code) was laid before the Parliament on 18 April 2018 and referred to the Local Government and Communities Committee for consideration.

The Code is to be agreed by a resolution of the Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and was considered by the Committee in the same way as it would consider an affirmative statutory instrument.

The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 provided for the introduction of a new code of conduct for local authority councillors. The Code of Conduct for Councillors required by the Act originally came into force in 2003, and was reviewed and re-issued in 2010. The Code applies to every elected member of a local authority in Scotland.

The substantive changes made by this latest version of the Code are:

(1) an addition to Section 3 of the Code to make clear that bullying or harassment is completely unacceptable and will be considered to be a breach of the Code,

and

(2) changes to the rules on declarations of interest by councillors who are also members of Regional Transport Partnerships.

It also makes a number of minor changes to clarify various provisions.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the Code at its meeting on 24 April 2018 and determined that it did not need to draw the attention of the Parliament to the Code on any grounds within its remit.

At its meeting on 16 May 2018, the Local Government and Communities Committee took evidence from—

Kevin Stewart, Minister for Local Government and Housing, and Brian Peddie, Relationship Manager, Local Government Policy and Relationships Unit, Scottish Government.

Following the evidence session, Kevin Stewart moved S5M-12191—

That the Local Government and Communities Committee recommends that the revised and updated Code of Conduct for Councillors' for the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 be approved.

After a debate was held, the motion was agreed to (by division) For 3 (Bob Doris, Jenny Gilruth, Andy Wightman), Against 2 (Graham Simpson, Alexander Stewart), Abstentions 1 (Kenneth Gibson).

The evidence taken and debate held at the Committee meeting on 16 May 2018 on the Code can be found in the Official Report at the following link.