PRESS PROTOCOL

No information at all should be given to press or public on an individual case until the Assessment Sub Committee has issued its report. This includes even confirmation that a complaint has been made.
The agreed statement should be consistently applied, neutral and not open to interpretation.

"It is the policy of the Ethical Standards Committee not to comment on any issue that may be referred to it until such time as its assessment sub committee has met and its findings conveyed to the relevant parties."
 
This line should be adhered to even if – as is often the case – the complainant has ‘tipped off’ the press. The media should be aware that the above statement is not meant to be open to interpretation. It means what is says, no more and no less.

As a courtesy, notice that any such inquiry has been made should be given to the chairman of the Ethical Standards Committee and the monitoring officer.

The Decision Notice should be made available for public inspection seven working days after the Assessment Sub Committee has reached its decision. There is no requirement for the decision to be published on the internet.

It is at this point that the Press can be informed that the decision notice is available for public inspection. There is no intention to automatically notify the press. Information can be given on an ‘if asked’ basis.

Decision notices can be faxed or e-mailed if asked.

While there should be a presumption that no further comment is desirable (the decision notice puts into the public domain the relevant facts), it should be down to the chairman of the committee advised by the Monitoring Officer to decide whether he or she wishes to comment further. There may indeed be instances where the chairman may feel further comment may help explain a committee decision or indeed raise the profile of the committee and its work.

Clearly this may be inappropriate if the decision of the assessment panel was to refer the matter for further investigation.

Any follow up calls relating to the process should be addressed through the IW Council’s communications department.