Standards in public life
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:00:00 GMT
Are standards in public life getting better or worse? This was the question at the heart of Lloyd Clarke’s presentation at a FEGReG seminar held on 9 December 2014 and there can be few better placed to consider it. Lloyd Clarke was a police officer for thirty six years, culminating in a position as Chief Constable of the Ministry of Defence force. He has led major investigations into corruption in the public and private sectors, including allegations of police corruption. He was also a member of the prestigious Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL), which advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK and which carried out the much publicised inquiry into MPs expenses. Since 2005 Lloyd Clarke has had a major non-executive portfolio primarily in social housing where he chairs audit and governance committees.
In his talk he developed two propositions. First, that over time, standards in public life are getting better (although trust in individuals and public institutions is reducing). Second that excellence in standards in public life can be best achieved through strong leadership and by leaders who embrace and demonstrate high ethical standards in their personal and professional behaviour. These carefully argued propositions were greatly enlivened and supported by concrete examples, personal anecdote and a passionate belief that leadership through high personal standards and behaviour is the main driver for excellent organisational standards and corporate governance.
FEGReG’s inter-disciplinary potential and the inter-active nature of the seminars was in strong evidence when Phil Drake, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Huddersfield linked points in the talk to his own research and to the influence of the Human Rights Act (1998), which Lloyd Clarke noted for further research and reflection.
The audience was left reflecting on the lines (if indeed they exist) between a person’s public and private life, and between trust in individuals and trust in professional roles. Trust in our own GP does not necessarily indicate trust in the medical profession overall. It would also seem these issues cross international borders.
