Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors agreed a peace settlement at the first meeting of Bradford Council's new-look standards committee. They told the chairman, the Bishop of Bradford, they wanted to "act as one." But will it last in the run-up to the May elections? City Hall Reporter Olwen Vasey reviews the meeting.

EVEN THE mention of Donnygate - Doncaster Council's planning scandal - in an officer's report didn't spark the usual political flames at the first meeting of Bradford Council's unique Standards Committee.

The "love thy neighbour'' atmosphere seemed more suited to a church than a committee room in City Hall.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David Smith, who accepted an invitation by the Council to be chairman, admitted as it came to a close that he didn't know how to end it.

But in the perfect calm of the normally rowdy committee rooms, his normal parting shot of "Amen'' might not have seemed so out of place.

However, the councillors who agreed the truce - Lynne Joyce (Lab, Keighley South), Quasim Khan (Con, Toller) and Sam Micklem (Lib Dem, Baildon) - admitted it would be difficult to maintain under pressure from colleagues in the cut-and-thrust culture of City Hall.

But it is a committee unlike any other, set up to fight corruption and malpractice to try to ensure probity and high standards in Britain's fourth biggest metropolitan authority. And already the Council has broken the mould by inviting the Bishop to become chairman of the Council's smallest - but hugely important - committee.

Complaints about councillors suspected of irregularities and breaking the Local Government Code of Conduct will first go to the Council's assistant director of legal services, Gerry Danby - who is also monitoring officer.

The next step will be the standards committee, with the power to strongly censure councillors, or even remove them from committees and appointments. The committee will also look at other areas of work and its own role in the reorganised Council.

But the new spirit of co-operation between the three members soon became apparent - with unanimous agreement for a new whistle-blowing charter for council workers, a code of conduct for members and a code of planning practice. Members were told by head of transportation and planning Alan Mainwaring that public confidence in the planning system had been shaken by scandals, including Donnygate.

The draft policy for planning includes rules for members meetings with lobbyists, declarations of interests and rights to make representations.

The whistle-blowers' charter comes just weeks after an anonymous leaflet was distributed round City Hall, making serious allegations about councillors and officers. The opportunity could have been snatched at this point for mud slinging, with members well aware that they were protected from defamation because they were in a meeting.

Mr Smith said after the meeting: "It was a very good example of co-operation, without compromising. I think it is something we will learn as we go along.''

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