The rules around behaviour of senior civil servants and politicians must be tougher, according to recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
The committee’s full review, which began in September last year and reported interim findings this summer, said that risks to public standards had increased and rules must be strengthened in response.
Chairman Lord Jonathan Evans said that social media, increasingly polarised politics and the “coarsening of public debate”, as well as the challenges of Brexit and the pandemic, had left public standards at risk.
The past two years has seen increased scrutiny into the behaviour of ministers and their civil servants, including allegations of bullying against home secretary Priti Patel, which were settled without reaching a tribunal.
The CSPL is an independent committee that advises the Prime Minister on ways to uphold ethical standards of conduct among senior civil servants and MPs.
Its report found that ethics regulators in Whitehall had “not kept pace with wider changes” and that there needed to be tougher restrictions around lobbying.
The committee has asked for a code that would include a list of all the sanctions that could be imposed on those who break it, such as apologies, fines or even being asked to resign. It also recommends that ministerial conduct rules are written into law.
It would also like to see a strengthening of the advisory committee on business appointments, which advises ministers on how to conduct themselves if lobbying with the private sector.
Earlier this year, former prime minister David Cameron was found to have made £3.3 million from shares in a collapsed finance company, Greensill Capital after the company employed him as an advisor.
Lord Evans added: “The arrangements to uphold ethical standards in government have come under close scrutiny and significant criticism in recent months. Maintaining high standards requires vigilance and leadership.
“We believe our recommendations outline a necessary programme of reform to restore public confidence in the regulation of ethical standards in government.”
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner welcomed the recommendations. She accused the Conservative party of “repeatedly undermining standards in our public life”.
“The system that is supposed to uphold the ministerial code, lobbying rules, business appointments, public appointments and transparency is clearly unfit for purpose.
“Ministers have disregarded the rules and it is about time for a radical overhaul of the system.”
Currently, the only person with the authority to investigate the conduct of ministers is the Prime Minister himself – the report recommends that an independent adviser be appointed on ministerial interests.
This person would be able to initiate their own investigations and be able to determine breaches of the code.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said the appointment of an independent adviser would be “essential if the code is to have a meaningful independent function”.
“There can be no hiding from the fact that the current prime minister has undermined confidence in the ministerial code as a meaningful regulator of ministerial conduct,” he said.
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The Cabinet Office, which governs ministerial and civil service rules, said it would “carefully consider” the report.
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