Wales sets standards committee rules from 5 Jan 2026

If you’ve ever wondered who polices councillor behaviour in Wales, the answer is your council’s standards committee. New rules-made on 19 November 2025, laid before the Senedd on 21 November, and coming into force on 5 January 2026-refresh who can sit on these committees and what respectful conduct looks like, according to regulations published on legislation.gov.uk.

By law, every Welsh council must have a standards committee that hears code‑of‑conduct cases, advises on ethics and grants dispensations. The Welsh Government’s Local Government (Standards Committees and Member Conduct) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2025 update membership rules so committees stay independent and trusted. The regulations are signed by Jayne Bryant, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government.

Here’s the headline change for former councillors: a cooling‑off period before you can join the standards committee of the same authority you served. If you previously held a senior, cabinet or executive role-such as chair or vice‑chair, presiding or deputy presiding member, elected mayor or deputy, executive leader, cabinet member, or an overview and scrutiny chair-you must wait five years from the day you left that role. If you were a councillor without one of those roles, the wait is two years.

Regional bodies are covered too. If you were a member of a corporate joint committee (CJC), or of one of its constituent councils or national park authorities, you must wait two years before serving as an independent member of that CJC’s standards committee. If you held a senior, cabinet or executive post in a constituent council of the CJC, the wait is five years.

Former officers can also serve as independent members, with safeguards. If you held a politically restricted post-jobs where party‑political activity is limited, typically senior or sensitive roles-or served as a registration officer (the electoral registration officer), you must wait two years before joining the standards committee of the authority where you held that post. The same two‑year rule applies for CJCs when the previous role was in a CJC or one of its constituent bodies.

The conduct rules themselves are updated for clarity and fairness. Both the Conduct of Members Principles (2001) and the Model Code of Conduct (2008) now replace the old list in the ‘equality and respect’ principle with the Equality Act 2010 term ‘protected characteristics’ and add ‘socio‑economic circumstances’. In plain terms: councillors must show respect across legally protected identities and be mindful of class and income‑related disadvantage.

Why use ‘protected characteristics’? It aligns local standards with national equality law so everyone-officers, members, trainers and the public-uses the same definitions. Adding socio‑economic circumstances sends a clear signal that attitudes to poverty and social class belong in conversations about respect and inclusion in public life.

If you’re thinking of applying as an independent member, check your dates. Count from the day you left office: two years if you were a councillor without a senior, cabinet or executive role; five years if you held one. Former officers with politically restricted or registration officer roles should also count two years. If you served in a CJC or its constituent bodies, apply the same timings to that CJC’s standards committee.

For classrooms tracking how rules are made, the steps matter. Ministers made the regulations on 19 November 2025 and laid them before Senedd Cymru on 21 November after consulting relevant authorities, the Auditor General for Wales and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The Welsh Government notes that a regulatory impact assessment is available for the changes.

What happens next is practical: councils and CJCs should refresh recruitment packs, induction and code‑of‑conduct training before 5 January 2026. For residents, the takeaway is simple-standards committees remain independent, clearer about respect, and better insulated from conflicts of interest.