Training lined up to avoid Sandwell Council gaffes

The council said it was not related to any specific incident, however the council has been hit by a series of allegations and has had to investigate councillors over their outside business interests.

Deputy leader Councillor Mahboob Hussain and jobs and economy boss Councillor Ian Jones have both stepped down from the cabinet while the authority looks into issues surrounding the sale of council-owned land.

Both men strenuously deny wrongdoing and have vowed to clear their names.

Councillor Hussain has already apologised after he had failed to declare an interest in a taxi company that had been awarded council business.

Two other Sandwell councillors also apologised last month after failing to declare interests on a public register.

The standards training sessions will be given to members every two years.

Bosses will also look to tighten up on councillors' financial affairs, stressing that they 'pay attention' to disclosable money matters.

is up to them whether they attend.

A total of 45 complaints were made about Sandwell councillors since since 2011.

Standards training is currently offered to members every 12 months, but it Councillors will also be given Twitter training, with bosses keen to avoid social media gaffes that have left other local authorities red-faced.

The head of the council's standards committee said he wanted councillors to sit down individually with authority chiefs to discuss what to say and what not to say.

Councillor Geoffrey Lewis, who heads the authority's standards committee, said the changes had been made as he believed punishments available to the council do not match the seriousness of misconduct witnessed at other councils across the country.

He said: "My main concern was the fact new councillors weren't having this training.

"They will be told how to act, go about, what the code of conduct is and the importance of not bringing the council into disrepute."

Councillor Lewis accepted what is taught at the sessions should be 'common sense' but said it had been 'lacking in the past with some of these issues'.

He also said too many councillors had ignored standards training in the past, prompting the move to make it mandatory.

Last month, Bristnall councillor Lucy Cashmore apologised after failing to declare her employment. Wednesbury North councillor Tony Meehan also said sorry for not disclose an interest in the property where he lived. Councillor Lewis said both cases were an 'oversight'.