Cabinet Office Homepage

Main navigation

Government publishes response to the Tenth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life

The Government is today publishing its response to the tenth report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, “Getting the Balance Right: Implementing Standards of Conduct in Public Life”.

The Prime Minister said:–

“I am grateful to the members of the Committee for its thorough consideration of these issues.

This Government is committed to ensuring the highest standards of conduct in public life”.

The key features of the Government response are:–

Ethical Standards Framework for Local Government

We consider that a move to a more locally based process for considering misconduct allegations against local government members, along the lines recommended by the Committee, would be the most appropriate way of addressing local issues and ensuring the local ownership of standards.

To maintain a culture of good conduct and provide strategic support to enable councillors to manage conduct issues effectively, we feel there is an essential, continuing role for the Standards Board for England in supporting high standards locally, as also recommended by the Committee.

Public Appointments

The Government accepts the Committee's recommendation that more systematic information should be published by departments on their overall policy and approach to public appointments. The Cabinet Office will work with Departments to ensure a more consistent approach.

The Government also recognises the important role of independent assessors in the process and believes that the accreditation of independent assessors should be given further consideration by the Commissioner in consultation with the Cabinet Office and departments.

The Government is also attracted to the Committee's recommendation for a Board of Public Appointments Commissioners, and for individual Commissioners to each be linked to a small number of departments. However, such a proposal will have cost implications and the Government would therefore welcome the views of the Public Administration Select Committee who are currently carrying out an Inquiry into the role and independence of the ethical regulators of Government.

Notes to editors

1. The Committee on Standards in Public Life's Tenth Report (Cm 6407) was published in January 2005.
2. The Government response can be found at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/standards/

Tel: 020 7276 0311 – Fax: 020 7276 0618

Out of hours telephone 07699 113300 and ask for pager number 721338.

www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk