17.06.14
Ethical standards should apply to all public service providers
Commissioners of public services must ensure that ethical standards are adhered to and operated by all third-party service providers in contractual arrangements, a new review has stated.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life’s report – Ethical standards for providers of public services – argues that while much of the basic infrastructure to improve standards is in place, there is a great deal more to do before high ethical standards are fully internalised in the cultures of all the country’s public institutions.
It was recommended that the Cabinet Office should ensure that ethical standards reflecting the Seven Principles of Public Life – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership – are addressed in contractual arrangements, with providers required to undertake that they have the structures and arrangements in place to support this.
Sir Christopher Kelly, chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said: “We are clear that, in general, standards of behaviour have improved in public life.
“However, it is disturbing that concerns continue to be raised about the integrity of so many of our key institutions or those within them and the evidence of the last few years suggests there is still much to do before the high standards in public life to which we all aspire are fully internalised in the cultures of all our public institutions.
“The report concludes that the need now is not necessarily for more principles, codes or regulators but rather for the existing arrangements to be more consistently and actively implemented. The promotion of good behaviour can never be about ticking boxes. It requires expected standards to be embedded throughout an organisation and its processes."
To view the report, click here.
There will be more coverage of the report, including an interview with committee member Sheila Drew Smith, in the next edition of Public Sector Executive.
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