The new Ethical Standards in Public Life Bill suggests a new standards commission is setup to monitor and comment on codes of conduct for councillors. In the past the government ombudsman had the authority to investigate and publically tear apart councillors who were misbehaving with respect to their office.

Retiring ombudsman Derrick Marks said: "I regret the loss by the ombudsman of what has been an effective, albeit rarely used, tool."

Complaints against councils/council members has risen steadily since the Tory party reorganiszd local authorities in Scotland to strengthen Tory councils (now they have councils anyway).

Of course we all know how poorly run Labour councils are, squandering cash on petty politcally correct projects and implementing Londons taxes (poll tax, fuel tax etc etc).

Labour is seeking to hide its inept government from the public eye, and it needs to. At the next council election in Scotland, the SNP will take away many Labour councils and start to delve into their (Labour) dirty laundry. Unfortunately, the ombudsman wont be there to help expose the litany of failures and outright manipulation by Labour councils.