Statement on the Motion regarding the Standards Commission and the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, agreed at City of Edinburgh Council on 17 August 2026

18th September 2026

Statement on the Motion regarding the Standards Commission and the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, agreed at City of Edinburgh Council on 17 August 2026

Edinburgh councillors, within their debate, quite rightly raised the importance of being able to scrutinise their organisation's performance and the actions of council officers.

The Standards Commission believes that it is possible for all elected councillors to carry out their vital scrutiny role without breaching the Councillor's Code of Conduct; a Code, approved by the Scottish Parliament, which every councillor commits to upholding when they accept office.

The Code states that councillors must treat everyone with courtesy and respect, and that they must not undermine any individual employee or group of employees, or raise concerns about their performance, conduct or capability in public. We maintain that any councillor can scrutinise effectively without breaching these two elements of the Code.   

The Standards Commission notes that the vast majority of complaints made to the Ethical Standards Commissioner about councillors are made by fellow councillors and members of the public. Only a very small percentage are made by council officers.

We note that speakers within the debate referenced the Commission's decision to appeal the recent judgement by Lord Sandison at Judicial Review.  This is not a decision which we took lightly. However members of the Commission believe that further clarity is required because we are concerned about the impact it could have on our ability to run fair, proportionate and efficient hearings. We are also concerned that the judgement has wider serious implications for other organisations that regulate the conduct of individuals. Unfortunately, we consider the only way that we can gain that clarity is through lodging an appeal.

Councillors also raised concerns about feeling threatened, by their own council officers, with being reported to the Ethical Standards Commissioner if they exercise their scrutiny function. 

The Standards Commission has been made aware of these concerns, and this is an issue which councillors need to address within their own organisations, with their senior staff teams. The responsibility for council culture is a shared one and a partnership between councillors and their officers. 

We note that Edinburgh Council is to ask COSLA to request a review into Scotland's ethical standards framework and the work of both the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Standards Commission, and we would of course be happy to contribute to any review should one be held.