Ethics and Integrity Forum proposed to rebuild public trust
The UK Open Government Network in response to the inquiry from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) has called for fundamental reforms to restore trust in government.
This includes the creation of an Ethics and Integrity Forum that would bring civil society into the heart of standards development for the first time.
In evidence submitted to the PACAC inquiry into propriety and ethics, the coalition of organisations warned that public trust has reached ‘record lows’ and that current reforms do not go far enough to address the crisis of confidence in British politics.
The submission reveals that transparency data is currently scattered across more than 20 different websites with no central coordination, making it virtually impossible for the public to track ministerial conduct, lobbying activity, or conflicts of interest effectively.
Kevin Keith, Chair at the UK Open Government Network, said: “The creation of the Ethics and Integrity Commission is a welcome first step, but we need to raise the profile of this new independent commission and ensure it has the powers, resources and public engagement mechanisms necessary to restore faith in our democratic institutions. The Forum could be a game-changer – bringing together not just government but civil society, academia, unions and business to co-create the standards that govern public life.”
Key recommendations include:
- Establishing an Ethics and Integrity Forum to enable structured civil society input into standards development, drawing on successful international models
- Creating a single public Standards Portal to aggregate all transparency data in one accessible location
- Placing the Ethics and Integrity Commission on a statutory footing with powers to compel information and enforce sanctions
- Launching a proactive communications strategy including “Standards Week” and regular public education initiatives
The submission draws on the UK Open Government Network’s decade of experience working with government through the Open Government Partnership, a 74-country initiative of which the UK was a founding member. The Network points to successful reforms that have occurred through open government including the G20’s first register of beneficial ownership and the world’s first algorithmic transparency standard.