‘So,’ as Adrian Mole might have remarked, ‘farewell then, Committee on Standards in Public Life’. The respected CSPL departed this life on 13 October, aged 31, to be immediately replaced by the Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC).
Politicians often find that preaching about integrity is easier than practising it. Humphrey Appleby, the cynically shrewd ministerial adviser in the BBC’s 1980s political satire Yes Minister, advised that while ‘honesty always gives you the advantage of surprise in the House of Commons… I don’t think we need to bring the truth in at this stage’. The CSPL, chaired by Lord Nolan, was created in 1994 by prime minister John Major, in the wake of the 1990s ‘cash for questions’ scandal. And while the present government has not entirely escaped political embarrassment over gifts and ‘freebies’, the new EIC, which was proposed ‘to ensure probity in government’, had been included in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto.
The EIC indicates that it is ‘an independent oversight body sponsored by the Cabinet Office that will oversee ethics in public life’, replacing the CSPL. The final chair of the CSPL, former deputy chief of the Defence Staff and master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Douglas Chalmers, is the EIC’s first chair. As Chalmers indicated in his inaugural message: ‘The new commission will build on the independent evidence-based work previously done by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, as well as taking on the new responsibilities of reporting to the prime minister every year on the health of the standards system as a whole and advising public bodies on their codes of conduct.’ Although, like the CSPL, it will not investigate or intervene in individual cases, it will regularly keep in touch with ‘leading standards bodies’ to ensure a good understanding of current issues and concerns to enable recommendations of ‘any running repairs to our standards landscape’.
The EIC’s responsibilities include promoting and safeguarding the seven principles of public life (the Principles). As local government lawyers (LGL) know, these are:
- selflessness (acting solely in the public interest);
- integrity (including declaring and resolving any interests and relationships);
- objectivity (taking decisions impartially, fairly, on merit and without discrimination or bias);
- accountability (to the public and submitting to verification scrutiny);
- openness (taking decisions transparently, withholding no information from the public unless with clear and lawful reasons for doing so);
- honesty (behaving truthfully); and
- leadership (actively exhibiting the principles in their behaviour and challenging poor behaviour).
As Chalmers indicated: ‘We have a great tradition of public service in this country. The Principles articulate what we expect from those who serve the public, whether they are appointed or elected.’
Paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds said that EIC ‘will play a leading role in supporting public bodies as they implement the planned forthcoming obligation in the Public Office (Accountability) Bill for all public bodies to have a code of ethical conduct’. Commonly known as the ‘Hillsborough Law’, this law will require public authorities and public officials to act with candour, transparency and frankness. It will also provide for the enforcement of that duty in dealings with inquiries and investigations, and require public authorities to promote and maintain ethical conduct within all parts of the authority. The EIC will act as a centre of excellence on public sector codes of conduct, providing guidance and best practice to help all public bodies put ethics and integrity at the heart of public service delivery.
This is important, because while rules are easily recited, the key challenge is ingraining the Principles (and their subtexts) into local and wider governmental culture, so that living the Principles becomes intuitive – an automatic part of doing the job. Senior roles need to prioritise this. Power, in addition to its corruptibility, can also distort individual and group perceptions. This can lead generally well-intentioned people to persuade themselves that since their hearts are in the right place, no one would object to cutting a few boring corners here and there, and since we work so hard for the public good, no one would surely deny us the few goodies that sometimes fall our way. Rigorous self-discipline, tough accountability and a pervasively strong ethical culture throughout local government and other organisations are essential to ensure that such thoughts are, and remain, unthinkable.
While the EIC seems to have been broadly welcomed, there have been some reservations. Rose Whiffen, senior research officer at Transparency International UK, indicated that the government’s approach ‘remains piecemeal, falling short of the comprehensive change needed’, adding: ‘There is a risk this new body simply becomes a rebranding of the previous Committee on Standards in Public Life unless it is given a strong foundation in law and is accompanied by wider updates to the standards system.’ Kate Dewsnip of the Constitution Society agreed that any intention for primary legislation to embed changes was ‘notably absent’.
Time will tell whether EIC is just the CSPL with a new coat of paint, or whether it will make a real difference. Nevertheless, LGL and their professional association, Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), have long experience of integrating ethical standards into their advice, and in training officers and elected members on ethical governance and its practical requirements. And since the Principles reflect the local authority fiduciary duty, LLG and LGL are generally well-positioned to help take EIC initiatives forward.
Nicholas Dobson writes on local government, public law and governance
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