asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether a local authority can insist on its members, and those of town and parish councils in its area, taking part in compulsory training sessions on both standards and its code of conduct for councillors; and what sanctions it would have in the case of a failure or refusal by a councillor to comply with the code. [HL4379]

While it is for a council's standards committee to provide advice on training to members on standards and the code of conduct, there is no general requirement on members to undertake such training.

A member who refuses to give the undertaking required by Section 52 of the Local Government Act 2000 to observe the code of conduct ceases to be a member of the authority. Sanctions for breaches of the code in less serious cases, imposed by councils' standards committees, include suspension from office up to a maximum of three months or requiring the member concerned to undertake relevant training. In more serious cases the national adjudication panel can impose a range of sanctions up to disqualification for a maximum of five years.

The Standards Board for England has issued guidance and training material to assist local standards committees in their role of providing advice and training on the code of conduct to members.