Public Service: Ethics and Integrity

On 21 July 2025 the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster laid out the Government’s plans to put ethics and integrity at the heart of the Government’s approach to public service. Today, we are delivering on those plans.

The Ethics and Integrity Commission has been launched today. The Prime Minister has written to the EIC’s independent chair, Doug Chalmers CB DSO OBE, to issue the commission’s terms of reference. A copy of the terms of reference have also been deposited in the Library of the House.

The commission 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. The Prime Minister has commissioned the EIC to report on how public bodies can develop, distribute and enforce codes so that they effect meaningful cultural change, ensuring public officials act with honesty, integrity and candour at all times. On the publication of its report, and on the Hillsborough law receiving Royal Assent, 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.

As previously announced, the commission will have a responsibility to engage and inform the wider public on the values, rules and oversight mechanisms that govern standards in public life, and to convene the leaders of ethics and standards bodies in central Government and Parliament to identify and address areas of common concern. The commission will also report annually to the Prime Minister on the overall health of our standards system. The commission will not have the ability to launch investigations or field complaints.

The Government are launching today a recruitment campaign for three new independent members to join the commission, to ensure a strong independent majority. The commission otherwise takes on the existing members and governance structure of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. The commission also inherits CSPL’s mandate to be the custodians of the seven principles of public life, and to report to Government on how arrangements to uphold standards in public life can be strengthened in specific areas.

The Prime Minister has today reissued the ministerial code to implement reforms in relation to ministerial severance payments and changes to the operation of the business appointment rules.

The ministerial code makes it clear that Ministers will be expected to forgo their severance if they leave office having served less than six months, or if they leave office following a serious breach of the ministerial code. Similarly, the new code states that if a former Minister is reappointed to a ministerial office within three months of leaving, they will be expected to waive their salary for the period that overlaps with their severance payment.

The updated code and terms of reference for the independent adviser on ministerial standards also reflect changes to the operation of the business appointment rules for former Ministers. From today, advice under the rules will be provided by the independent adviser, and the Prime Minister may ask former Ministers to repay their severance payment if they are found to have seriously breached the business appointment rules.

One further change to the ministerial code is that the Cabinet Office will advise the Prime Minister before any decision to establish a public inquiry is taken, and before the terms of reference are agreed. This is to ensure decisions are well judged and proportionate, and that inquiries focus on finding the right answers and help effect change.

The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has now closed. From today, its function to provide independent advice on the application of the business appointment rules in respect of the most senior civil servants and special advisers is transferred to the Civil Service Commission. Similarly, ACOBA’s function to provide independent advice in respect of former Ministers is from today transferred to the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, who already provides independent advice to the Prime Minister on adherence to the ministerial code, and to individual Ministers on the appropriate management of their private interests while in office.

This structural change is accompanied by wider reforms to strengthen and streamline the system and enhance compliance. As set out above, in the event of a serious breach of the business appointment rules, Ministers will now be expected to repay any severance payment they have received. To improve the consistency of the application of the rules in Departments, the Civil Service Commission, which already audits Departments for compliance with the civil service recruitment principles, will undertake regular audits of departmental decisions on business appointment applications for grades below the level currently administered by ACOBA. This enhanced sanction and oversight will be underpinned by a more efficient and responsive system, focused on ensuring applicants understand their obligations under the rules. New guidance on the system has been published on www.gov.uk today to reflect these changes.

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