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The year-long Standards Commission put together by senior officers' group Solace today highlighted the police's lack of involvement in the work.In a scathing revelation, the report of the Commission on Professional Standards and Ethics read: ‘Although the commission repeatedly sought to engage the police on this piece of work, we were unable to secure their involvement or contribution.'The report included a call for the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) to work with Solace and the Local Government Association (LGA) to co-design a national code for reporting and responding to standards and conduct issues relating to both elected members and officers. It also said the NPCC should form ‘clear communication channels between every local authority and a named police liaison officer for local government issues'.The report urged the Government to work with the sector to ‘co-design and implement an effective, modernised standards regime for local government in England, as well as a nationally prescribed code of conduct' for all councils.Progress has stuttered since the Government committed to whole-system reform of the standards framework last year, including proposing to give local authorities powers to suspend mayors and councillors for serious misconduct for up to six months and withhold allowances for poor behaviour. Last week The MJ revealed the Government was actively looking at whether there was enough Parliamentary time to ‘get something on the books'.The report said the Government should provide sustainable and long-term funding for a strengthened standards system and work with the sector to conduct a comprehensive review of statutory governance roles.It added Solace should create a chief executive civility lead, and Solace, the LGA and the Association of Monitoring Officers should work together to develop accredited standards training for councillors and officers.It is understood LGA chief executive Jenny Rowlands last week stressed how big an issue civility in public life was, highlighting pressures on monitoring officers and other statutory officers. The report put a spotlight on additional pressures faced by women and minoritised groups in the sector. Chief executive of Portsmouth City Council Natalie Brahma-Pearl, who was the target of hostility and online abuse last year when riots broke out in the city, told The MJ: ‘Because I'm half Indian, half English, and because I classify myself as Asian, that became the target. Whereas if I'd been a Natalie Pearl without the Brahma there and was white, I wouldn't have that stuff. It just became a hook that people could use.'The commission's chair Kath O'Dwyer said sanctions had so far fallen far short of what was needed.On the biggest recommendation for the Government to introduce a stronger standards system, she added: ‘We know that they're up for that. They've already acknowledged that.'The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and NPCC did not respond to requests for comment before our deadline. Social media has had a seismic impact on the political landscape, but it now faces calls to curb its effects. Martin Ford reports

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GOVERNANCE

Solace standards report highlights lack of police engagement

By Ann McGauran | 21 October 2026

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