So you have been an independent member of a standards committee under the Local Government Act 2000 - and you notice that there is a similar sort of cove within the new Localism Act 2011. Could that be you? There seems to be some doubt. The difficulty arises because an ‘independent person’ under section 28 of the Localism Act (whose views must be taken into account by the authority in determining member misconduct investigations) must not (among other things) be a member, co-opted member or officer of the authority, or have been so within the five years preceding their appointment.