Lord Evans' statement on the Government's response to the Committee's report on local government ethical standards

Today, the Government has published its response to the Committee’s 2019 report, Local Government Ethical Standards.

In response, Lord Evans, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said:

“While we note the government’s commitment to further work to support local government, the Committee is disappointed that many of its careful recommendations have not been accepted. It was clear from our evidence that the sector backed our call to strengthen the arrangements in place to support high ethical standards, whilst respecting the benefits of a localised approach.

We are pleased that many local authorities have already reviewed their approach as a result of this work and are adopting the best practice points from the report. Across all tiers of local government, decisions are taken about a wide range of local services using public funds, so it is important that there are robust governance arrangements that command public confidence.”