145.Section 64 provides that where an ethical standards officer concludes that there is no evidence of any failure to comply with the code of conduct of the relevant authority concerned or where no action needs to be taken in respect of the matters which are the subject of the investigation, he may produce a report and may provide a summary of the report to any newspapers circulating in the area of the relevant authority concerned. If a report is produced, a copy must be sent to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority.
146.If the ethical standards officer does not produce a report, he must inform the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned of the outcome of the investigation.
147.Section 64(2) and (3) places a duty on an ethical standards officer to produce a report when he concludes that the matters which are the subject of an investigation should be referred either to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned or to the president of the Adjudication Panel. Copies of the reports must be sent to the monitoring officer of the relevant authority concerned, to the standards committee of the relevant authority concerned (where appropriate) or, as the case may be, to the president of the Adjudication Panel.
148.Subsection (4) makes provision for reports where a member may have committed a breach of a code of conduct at an relevant authority other that that at which he is presently a member. Subsection (5) provides that a report may cover more than one investigation.
149.The ethical standards officer must on the conclusion of an investigation inform any person who is the subject of an investigation and must take reasonable steps to inform the person who made the original allegation about the outcome of the investigation.
150.Section 65 provides an ethical standards officer with the power to issue an interim report if, during an investigation, he considers that it would be in the public interest to do so. Such reports can recommend that the person being investigated should be immediately suspended or partially suspended from being a member of the relevant authority concerned or any of its committees or sub-committees for up to six months. The matter is then referred to the President of the Adjudication Panel for adjudication by an interim case tribunal.
Introduction Commentary on sections Sections 64 and 65: Reports