CSPL · Local government ethical standards: report
R19-3
Rejected
January 2019
Recommendation
Councillors should be presumed to be acting in an official capacity in their public conduct, including statements on publicly-accessible social media. Section 27(2) of the Localism Act 2011 should be amended to permit local authorities to presume so when deciding upon code of conduct breaches.
Government response
The government's view is that it is for individual local authorities to consider if their code of conduct is adequate in addressing the issue of inappropriate use of social media.