Joining the Forum

The Standards Forum is an online platform for monitoring officers and members of standards committees to share ideas and experiences of the local standards framework. It is facilitated by Standards for England.

Receiving a username and password

For monitoring officers

On 9 October 2009, you were emailed details of your username and password.

For standards committee members

Standards committee members can join the forum in one of two ways. Either your monitoring officer can send us your details (full name and email address) or you can contact us directly, but we will then need to verify your details with your monitoring officer.

Please note that in both cases we will aim to register you as soon as possible but the process could take up to two weeks.

About your username and password

Once you have entered the forum for the first time, you can change your password to something more memorable using the member control panel.

Please note that you cannot change your username. The forum is not anonymous. Your initial and surname will be displayed in all of your posts.

Note: If you have problems with either your username or password please email forum@standardsforengland.gov.uk

Logging in for the first time

You will receive an email to say that you have been registered for the forum.

The link in the email takes you to the Standards Forum page of our website, where you need to click on the 'click to enter' button.

The first time you click on this button you will be asked to accept a set of terms and conditions called the Standards Forum policy, as outlined below. This should not display on subsequent visits from your computer.

Having accepted the policy, you will reach the Standards Forum site. You will then be asked to enter your username and password.

Once your details have been entered successfully you will enter the forum.

Amending your details

You can decide how much information about yourself you would like to share with other users using the member control panel. For example, you can choose to hide your authority and email address from other users, or to add more information about yourself.

This is also the place where you can change your password if you wish.

Help with using the forum

Click on FAQ to find help on using the forum.

Using the forum

The Standards Forum is an online community for monitoring officers and standards committee members, facilitated by Standards for England. We aim to provide a place where users can, for example: network and communicate directly with each other, share experiences of the standards framework and best practice, recommend investigators, share independent committee members and discuss any other relevant topics.

We have set up a number of Boards on the key areas that we think will be of interest to the community. Boards can only be created by Standards for England moderators.

Within each Board, users can create Topics to discuss areas of particular interest to them. Other users can reply to the post, creating a series of posts discussing that particular topic.

Terms and conditions

All those who use the site are taken to have agreed to our Standards Forum policy. Some of the key points to note are:

• By accessing and using the Forum a standards committee member will be acting in his or her official capacity and the Code of Conduct 2007 will apply to your conduct.
• We provide this Forum to allow registered users to interact with each other and do not endorse any opinions expressed by Forum users. Anything on the Forum is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. It should not be relied on without taking independent advice.
• Your post is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and could be released into the public domain if deemed appropriate. 
• Please do not post anything identifying any specific facts, including information that may identify complainants, subject members or other parties, about any ongoing or pending Code of Conduct complaint, investigation or hearing. Do not post content that might in any way breach the confidence of another individual, or that contains their personal information.
• Please inform us if your details change or you are no longer a standards committee member or monitoring officer.

Please read the full policy for all terms and conditions.