Civil Service Ethics

We are a vocal advocate for strong ethics and governance in the civil service, and have a track record of success in setting out the standards. 

We successfully campaigned for the introduction of the original Civil Service Code - which sets out the ethics and behaviour expected of civil servants -  and participated in its modernisation in 2006.

We welcomed the publication of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill in July 2009, which includes provisions to enshrine civil service values of independence and impartiality in law, and strengthen the independence of the Civil Service Commissioners.  We are continuing to look at the detail of the legislation.

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill would cover most of the aims of a Civil Service Act, for which the FDA has long campaigned with the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) and the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL). 

A Civil Service Act was a key recommendation of the Northcote-Trevelyan report of 1854 which established the civil service. In addition to placing civil service values in statute, the act the FDA is seeking would place oversight of the governance of the civil service under Parliament, rather than the elected Government. Currently, the guiding principles of the civil service can be changed by the Government of the day, without approval by Parliament.