The Committee on Standards in Public Life has announced its intention to undertake a review of ‘Ethics for Regulators’ to explore how regulators live up to the 7 principles of public life.
The Committee is an independent public body which advises government on ethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK. It monitors and reports on issues relating to the standards of conduct of all public office holders. The CSPL secretariat and budget are provided by the Cabinet Office.
Announcing the review, the Committee said regulators play a central role in public life, dealing with a very wide range of commercial and non-market activity at national and local levels, commenting:
“Created to operate in the public interest, their decisions impact on individuals and organisations. Like much of the public sector, regulators face reduced expenditure and unprecedented scrutiny on how they operate.”
“It is critical therefore, that regulators are robustly independent of those they regulate and demonstrate high standards with their own activities and decisions.”
The Committee now intends to undertake a short review of ‘Ethics for Regulators’ as set out in its 2015-2016 business plan to explore how regulators live up to the following 7 principles of public life which are set out in the Ministerial Code.
1. Selflessness - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
2. Integrity - Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
3. Objectivity - Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
4. Accountability - Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
5. Openness - Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
6. Honesty- Holders of public office should be truthful.
7. Leadership - Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.
The Committee will undertake a ‘health-check’ of the way in which regulators manage ethical issues in their own organisations and the extent to which the unique characteristics of regulators create or demand any specifically tailored ethical solutions.
As a starting point the Committee is asking a wide range of regulatory bodies about their ethical standards, in order to gather evidence for the next steps of the review. The Committee will publish an overview of the issues raised in the Autumn.
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