A CONTROVERSIAL set of standards that Cardiff councillors were asked to sign up to years ago has been deemed unnecessary by the city council’s chief legal advisor.
The ‘Cardiff Undertaking’, adopted by Cardiff Council in 2004 and amended over the years, has raised concerns among some councillors, with one local representative calling some of its points “alarming”.
Cardiff Council’s director of governance and legal services, Debbie Marles, told members of the local authority’s standards and ethics committee recently that the undertaking, which is similar to the Members Code of Conduct, could give rise to confusion.
The Members Code of Conduct includes a set of standards that councillors across the country have to follow and are enforceable, but the Cardiff Undertaking is not.
Conservative Cllr Catriona Brown Reckless, said at a council meeting in May 2023 that many did not understand why she should have concerns about the standards document.
Cllr Reckless, who was one of the Cardiff Council members not to sign the Cardiff Undertaking following the 2022 local government elections, said: “My concern was additional points slipped in amongst fine sounding principles.
“One example was that a councillor giving the undertaking was to give priority to the interests of the Council.
“On its face appearing innocuous, but on closer consideration I believe constitutionally alarming.
“As councillors we are to give priority to the interests of our constituents.”
Point four of the Cardiff Undertaking states that councillors should undertake to “give priority to the interests of the council, Cardiff and of the people of Cardiff”.
Other points have also been seen by some councillors as potential barriers to criticising or speaking out publicly against the council.
Point eight of the standards document states that councillors should undertake “not to disclose information given to me in confidence” and point nine states that councillors should undertake to “support and promote the conduct of the council’s business being carried out in an open and transparent manner”.
One group of independent councillors at Cardiff Council, comprising of Cllr Emma Reid-Jones and Cllr Peter Littlechild raised concerns about the Cardiff Undertaking.
They also raised concerns with the line “give priority to the interests of the council” in the document, adding “as elected members our priority is to our ward and the people of Cardiff”.
Referencing Ms Marles’ advice at the recent council standards and ethics committee meeting on Wednesday, April 30, Cllr Brown-Reckless said: “Given your role as monitoring officer, you are the council’s most senior lawyer on these aspects and I find it really quite perverse if you are saying this is not a document we should have or have in this form but that still continues to be a major standards document that’s applying at the council.”
Members of the standards and ethics committee agreed to propose that the Cardiff Undertaking be withdrawn.
The council’s legal advisor, Ms Marles, will submit the committee’s recommendations in relation to the standards document to full council for a vote of approval.
Ms Marles said she wasn’t aware of any other local authority in Wales having their own version of the undertaking.
Laying out her view on the document in a council report published ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Ms Marles said: “The Committee will note that the commitments set out in the Cardiff Undertaking are very similar, but not identical, to the duties imposed within the Members’ Code of Conduct.
“The Monitoring Officer’s view is that this may potentially lead to confusion between the two.
“Further, if the Cardiff Undertaking was to be amended to bring it more into line with the Members’ Code of Conduct, the purpose of having two separate documents would be unclear, again potentially leading to confusion.”
