The Falling Standards Board for England

This blog used to complain regularly about the Standards Board for England, as in this House Points column from February.

The Tories took up the cause before the general election, but things seemed to go quiet after that.

Now a Labour backbencher, the unlovable but effective Andrew Dismore, has come out for the forces of light. He was interviewed on the Today programme this morning and his comments are reported on the Guardian website:

The body that investigates allegations of sleaze and misconduct in local government is an out-of-control "Frankenstein's monster", a Labour MP protested today.

Andrew Dismore, a member of the parliamentary standards and privileges committee, said the Standards Board for England was not choosy enough about its investigations.

He believes that many take too long and, at an average cost of £5,000, are too expensive.