Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I am grateful to the Minister for thinking so carefully about the points that we have raised in this amendment and to those on the Conservative Benches for their support. The noble Lord, Lord Bruce-Lockhart, is entirely right in saying that upholding the highest standards of integrity and behaviour is not only in the interests of everyone in local government but that people in local government genuinely subscribe to it. Questions about the standards regime in no way lessen that, but it is absolutely key that principles of natural justice apply in this field as they would anywhere else. There is at least sufficient evidence to cast doubt on whether previous practices have resulted in that. The noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, referred to trivial criminal convictions. The answer here is to allow criminal justice processes to take their course, so that a decision is made whether someone is guilty or not of a criminal offence. After that, the standards process makes a decision whether that criminal offence is one that impacts on someone’s role as a councillor. In other words, a minor speeding matter may very well be seen as by a local standards board as one that would not cause a problem or interfere in someone’s ability to be a councillor. It may be that that person is the executive member for road safety—in which case the local board may take a different view. But if in that two-stage process the criminal issues are separated out from issues of standards of the council, we may be on safer ground. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 236A to 238ZA not moved.] Clause 184 agreed to. Clause 185 [Certain references to code of conduct to include default code]: