Archived press release

Date Published: 23/02/07

Aylesbury Vale District Council is seeking to recruit fair-minded, independent people to join its standards committee. The job of the standards committee is to promote and maintain the highest ethical standards expected of councillors by the comm...

Aylesbury Vale District Council is seeking to recruit fair-minded, independent people to join its standards committee.

The job of the standards committee is to promote and maintain the highest ethical standards expected of councillors by the community. It monitors compliance with the councillors’ code of conduct and can be called on to sit in judgement on elected members.

The council has vacancies for independent members on the committee and is looking for people with no active involvement in local government or party politics who will be willing to attend around four evening meetings a year.

The positions are not open to anyone who has been a member or officer of AVDC or of a parish or town council within the district in the past five years. Close friendship with a councillor or someone who works for the council also precludes membership.   

Members of the committee include five district councillors, two parish representatives and three independent members. The independent members have full voting rights and are therefore essential to ensuring the impartial working of the committee.

Joanna Swift, Head of Legal Services at AVDC, said: “This is a golden opportunity for members of the public to influence the conduct of the district council. It is a challenging role and I would encourage anyone who has an interest in local government and civic responsibility to get involved.”

An annual allowance of £500 is paid together with travel and subsistence expenses. Preference will be given to applicants who are residents within the Aylesbury Vale district.

Residents who would like to be considered for a four-year term have until 16 March to return an application form. Further information about the post, together with an application pack, may be obtained by visiting the council’s website. Alternatively you can call 01296 585252 or sending an email to: kwickens@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk