Press release

Standards Matter 2: Further online evidence sessions announced

On the 17th and 24th March the Committee will be hearing from more witnesses, including former Cabinet Secretaries and the heads of standards regulators

As part of its current landscape review of standards, the Committee is continuing to gather evidence and views about the structures in place to support high standards in public life.

The Committee is holding online evidence sessions, via Zoom, on Wednesday 17 and Wednesday 24 March to hear from individuals and organisations on these issues.

The online open sessions will be livestreamed via the Committee’s YouTube page

The Committee has no remit to investigate individual cases; these sessions will focus on the structures in place to regulate standards and encourage high standards of conduct in public life.

You can view the evidence sessions from the 10 March here.

Wednesday 17 March - The Importance of High Ethical Standards

11:00 - 12:00: Lord Mark Sedwill KCMG, former Cabinet Secretary

13:00 - 14:00: Lord Gus O’Donnell GCB, former Cabinet Secretary

14:00 - 15:00: Dame Carolyn Fairbairn DBE, former Director General, Confederation of British Industry, and Sir Jonathan Symonds CBE, Non-Executive Chairman, GlaxoSmithKline

15:30 - 16:30: Professor Elizabeth David-Barrett, Director, Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex, and Daniel Bruce, Chief Executive, Transparency International UK

16:30 - 17:30: Jacqui McKinlay, Chief Executive, Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, and Jonathan Goolden, Regulatory and Public Sector Partner, Wilkin Chapman LLP Solicitors

Wednesday 24 March - Standards Bodies and Regulators

9:00 - 10:00: Rt Hon Peter Riddell CBE, Public Appointments Commissioner and former Director of the Institute for Government

10:00 - 11:00: Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, former Anti-Corruption Czar and Chair, independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments

11:00 - 12:00: Sir David Normington GCB, former First Civil Service Commissioner and former Public Appointments Commissioner

13:30 - 14:30: Dr Hannah White OBE, Deputy Director, Institute for Government*, and Professor Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics and Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield

14:40 - 15:30: Caroline Anderson, Ethical Standards Commissioner for Scotland, Ian Bruce, Public Appointments Manager for Scotland, Douglas Bain, Acting Senedd Commissioner for Standards, and Dr Melissa McCullough, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Standards

16:00 - 17:00: Commissioner Mario Dion, Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Canada

*Dr Hannah White was Secretary to the Committee 2011-2013

The public consultation for this review has now closed. The Committee would like to thank all those who submitted evidence and views.

Meetings, roundtables and research for this review are ongoing. Notes and transcripts will be published on the Committee’s website in due course.

The Committee will report in the autumn.

The online open sessions will be livestreamed via the Committee’s YouTube page

Notes to Editors

  1. Interview requests and media enquiries should go to Maggie O’Boyle on 07880 740627.
  2. The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK. It monitors and reports on issues and arrangements relating to the standards of conduct of all public office holders. Find out more about the Committee’s work here.
  3. The current members of the Committee are: Lord (Jonathan) Evans of Weardale KCB DL, Chairman, Rt Hon Dame Margaret Beckett DBE MP (Labour), Dr Jane Martin CBE, Dame Shirley Pearce DBE, Monisha Shah , Rt Hon Lord (Andrew) Stunell OBE (Liberal Democrat) and Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP (Conservative)
  4. The Committee is also currently conducting a review of electoral regulation, on the way donations and campaign expenditure by candidates, political parties and non-party campaigners in election and referendum campaigns are regulated and enforced by the Electoral Commission, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Police. It is due to report on electoral regulation by June 2021.
  5. You can follow the Committee on Twitter @PublicStandards

Watch the Committee’s short videos about the Nolan principles

Published 11 March 2021