Ethics in Local Government

Evaluating Self-Regulation in England and Wales

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6301558
AutoresAlan Doig (0000-0002-3826-2917), Christopher Skelcher
Año2001
Volumen27
Número1
Páginas87-108
Fecha de publicación2001-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLocal Government Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0300-3930 • E-ISSN: 1743-9388
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/714004091
OpenAlexW2324519106
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas1

Local government in England and Wales is subject to the implementation of the Labour government's 'new ethical framework' legislation. This involves a statutory code of conduct for councillors, local standards committees to promote good practice and external investigative and adjudicative bodies to deal with allegations of misconduct. Prior to this many local authorities had adopted a self-regulatory approach to improving their ethical practice. This article charts the development of non-statutory policy towards standards of conduct - largely due to the generally high ethical standards in councils. A study of councils who have introduced self-regulation through standards committees shows that it provides a positive strategy for strengthening the ethical climate, although there is a role for external verification and, potentially, intervention where councils face structural problems of misconduct and/or corruption. The current creation of a statutory system with powerful investigatory agencies is not justified in the context of levels of misconduct and the experience of self-regulation

Context (archaeology · Government (linguistics · Language change · Legislation · Legislature · Local government · Misconduct · Political science · Statutory law · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Regulation and Compliance Studies