New standards watchdog the Ethics and Integrity Commission has said it will look at how the public-sector ombudsman system can be reformed in its first review.
The EIC was launched in October last year in an expansion of the former Committee on Standards in Public Life, originally set up in response to the series of sleaze scandals that dogged British politics in the early-to-mid 1990s.
It is chaired by Doug Chalmers, who is an army veteran and a former deputy chief of defence staff.
Chalmers set out the EIC’s plans for its first investigation in an update on progress with the new commission provided to Keir Starmer earlier this month.
“You will recall that our predecessor, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, published a report in 2025 called Recognising and responding to early warning signs in public sector bodies,” Chalmers told the PM. “Building on that report, the EIC’s first review will look at whether ombudsman schemes in the public sector should play a greater role in investigating systemic issues before they escalate and supporting public bodies to instigate swift and meaningful improvements to public services.
“We intend to publish our terms of reference and launch a call for evidence for this review in early March, when I will write to you again.”
Elsewhere in his update, Chalmers said the EIC had appointed a new chief executive, senior civil servant Stu Sterling, and is “in the process of building up a staff team of around 18, with the capability and expertise necessary”.
Chalmers said particular areas of required expertise related to work on codes of conduct and building wider understanding of the standards system and the Nolan Principles, also known as the Seven Principles of Public Life.
“From the outset, the commission has been committed to building on the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s reputation for independent, evidence-based work as we have put in place the foundations to deliver our new, wider remit in the standards landscape,” Chalmers said.
He added that EIC staff have been working with the Cabinet Office team developing the Public Office (Accountability) Bill – which will be known as the Hillsborough Law – “to ensure that the commission’s role is clear and well aligned”.
The EIC has a role in helping public bodies to create their own codes for the “duty of candour” that is a major part of the new legislation.
“Once staff are in post, we will research and report on what really makes for an effective code of conduct and oversight arrangements so that we are a source of expertise and good practice for public authorities,” Chalmers said.
“An important part of this work will be looking at how to better embed codes into the culture and day to day work of public sector organisations.”
Chalmers added that he had now chaired two formal meetings of the Network of Standards Bodies, which brings together regulators and advisory bodies operating in government and in parliament.
“The insight and intelligence generated through this network will be central to our first annual report to you on the health of standards in public life this autumn,” Chalmers told Starmer.
EIC chief executive Sterling took up post in late October. He has previously worked in the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
In 2019 he graduated from the College of Policing’s strategic command course and was seconded into the senior leadership team of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, where he led on national communications during the coronavirus pandemic.