Integrity management and the public service ethos in the UK: patchwork quilt or threadbare blanket?

Abstract

This paper focuses on the nature of integrity management in contemporary UK public life. Despite traditionally high standards of integrity in the public service, it has recently been argued that the UK's National Integrity System resembles a patchwork quilt of poorly defined institutional roles, questionable independence, and contested notions of how best to disseminate and uphold ethical practice. The paper traces how a relatively enduring characteristic known as the British public service ethos (PSE), which places emphasis on informal codes of conduct and moral integrity, has evolved within broader systemic changes to the style of public service delivery. It is argued that pressures to decentralise public service delivery sit in tension with, and feed into, piecemeal attempts to centralise and codify integrity management. This dynamic is presented in terms of the tension between a compliance-based and a values-based approach to integrity management.The paper is structured in three parts. The first part traces the evolution of the British public service ethos, tracing continuities and changes, in order to situate integrity management in both its institutional and structural context. The second part engages with recent academic debates and recommendations from key bodies such as the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) and the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC). It is shown how recommendations to create independent statutory bodies of ethical oversight have not been fully implemented. The third part seeks to place the UK experience within the broader literature surrounding National Integrity Systems and New Public Management. In doing so the paper reflects on ways we can understand the concept and application of integrity management within and beyond the UK experience.

Grand corruption and government change: an analysis of partisan favoritism in public procurement

“…In the United Kingdom, the capacity of political elites to control the implementation phase through patronage is much weaker. Appointments to the civil service are meritocratic and mainly non-political (Heywood 2012), with the exception of special advisers (Yong and Hazell 2014). There is little change in personnel when governments change, and our interviews suggested that the institutional structures for implementing and monitoring public procurement are much less prone to political influence.…”

Promoting Ethics Management Strategies in the Public Sector: Rules, Values, and Inclusion in Sweden

“…Rules-based approaches provide clear guidelines and may be straightforward and quick to implement and monitor, not least after ethics scandals when they often are the go to solution, but responses in these situations are often improvised rather than well thought through (Anechiarico & Jacobs, 1996; Demmke & Moilanen, 2011, p. 43; Heywood, 2012, p. 478). However, in large organizations with many tasks and activities, it is impossible to regulate every aspect of an organization and its activities (Hoekstra et al, 2008).…”

The Integrity of Integrity Programs: Toward a Normative Framework

“…IP planning is a matter of wholeness, because it connects ambitions to concrete targets and outcomes. Without a clear plan and set targets, integrity activities are destined to remain rather incident-driven (Van Der Wal, Graycar, & Kelly, 2016), prompted by scandals (Heywood, 2012), or impelled by erratic political or financial decisions (Lawton, Rayner, & Lasthuizen, 2013). Thus, as a matter of wholeness, IP planning entails firstly (4.1.1) specifying the program's ambitions and targets in a plan.…”