What was your highlight of 2025?
For me, it has to be the launch of the new Ethics and Integrity Commission in October – a significant moment for standards in public life. Building on the Committee on Standards in Public Life, our expanded remit brings new opportunities to raise the profile of standards including an annual letter to the prime minister on the health of the standards system and by becoming a centre of excellence for public authorities on codes of conduct.
To deliver these big new responsibilities we are growing the officials team to four times the size it was and recruiting three new independent commission members. This is exciting – and recognition for the excellent work that was delivered under CSPL. But, this will take time to build, develop and get right. It is, however, an immensely important signal on the importance of standards and the direct impact that our work can have on the public.
What was the hardest part of being a leader in 2025?
In all the major tragedies of the last decades like Hillsborough, Grenfell, and the Post Office Horizon scandal, there were warning signs that could have been picked up. It is one thing to say “lessons must be learned”. The hardest part of being a leader is making sure the lessons of those tragedies are actually learned.
So much of the work we do as public sector leaders – at all levels - is about building the right culture. Our report, Recognising and Responding to Early Warning Signs, looked at the consequences of failing to properly listen to concerns or having an overly defensive culture. The way leaders respond when people raise concerns has a ripple effect through an organisation – for good or bad.
As leaders we need to stay curious. We must keep the Nolan Principles at the heart of what we do – being open, accountable, having integrity and showing leadership even when things are difficult.
What are the main challenges facing your department in the coming year?
A big challenge will be meeting the expectations of us within the right timeframe. We want our work to be impactful, evidence-based and drive more discussion about standards across the public sector.
Our relationships with those working on standards in different contexts are vital to producing work that adds value and strengthens our standards system. As an independent advisory body, our work relies on hearing evidence and experiences from a wide range of experts, practitioners, academics and the public so that we can make robust, practical recommendations for change to the PM.
Which celebrity or historical figure would you choose to turn on the Christmas lights in your town – and why?
I live in Cambridge so that’s where the lights ceremony would take place and for me it would have to be David Bowie. Why? He was a deeply influential figure in my youth due to the way he constantly challenged norms, connected people and trends – all of which meant that he shaped culture.
Read all the entries to this year's perm secs round up here