Committee on Standards in Public Life: Local government ethical standards: report
R19-23
Response position Partially accepted
Published January 2019
Response position and delivery status are recorded separately. Acceptance does not establish implementation.
Recommendation (the Committee's words)
The Local Government Transparency Code should be updated to provide that local authorities must ensure that their whistleblowing policy specifies a named contact for the external auditor alongside their contact details, which should be available on the authority’s website.
From: Committee on Standards in Public Life, Local government ethical standards: report, January 2019
Government response
Government response (the government's words)
The government agrees with the principle that openness is essential.
Most local authorities already publish their whistleblowing policy, procedures and a named contact on their websites, and Government is recommending that this is adopted as a best practice recommendation.
The government published the UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2021- 2023 in January 2022. This includes a commitment on local transparency. The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will work with the local government community to develop a set of specific actions to advance transparency in the sector. DLUHC will support local government to solidify their transparency policies and processes and encourage proactive publication of open data across councils.
Most local authorities already publish their whistleblowing policy, procedures and a named contact on their websites, and Government is recommending that this is adopted as a best practice recommendation.
The government published the UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2021- 2023 in January 2022. This includes a commitment on local transparency. The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will work with the local government community to develop a set of specific actions to advance transparency in the sector. DLUHC will support local government to solidify their transparency policies and processes and encourage proactive publication of open data across councils.
From: HM Government. Source document ↗