Ethics, Integrity and Standards

Public trust is lent, not owned, and this module sets out why conduct in public service is everyone's business. It traces governance codes from Cadbury to King IV, works through the seven Nolan Principles, distinguishes ethics, integrity and standards, and maps the 2026 standards landscape, including the Ethics and Integrity Commission, the Hillsborough Law and the different councillor standards regimes in Wales and England.

Most hard calls at work are hard because two good things are in tension, and good intentions are not a method. This module offers a practical way of reasoning through them, drawing on the utilitarian, deontological and virtue lenses, Northouse's domains of conduct and character and his five principles of ethical leadership, and Rest's four components of ethical action, applied in a composite case about a softened scrutiny report.

Wrongdoing rarely starts with a bad person; it usually starts with an ordinary person taking a small step that seems reasonable. This module explores why, using Bazerman and Tenbrunsel's blind spots, Bandura's moral disengagement, Janis's groupthink and organisational pressures such as targets, obedience and loyalty. The Post Office Horizon scandal shows the consequences, and the module closes on designing good systems and building moral courage.

A code is a promise made in public, and this module explains how that promise is overseen and enforced. It distinguishes codes of conduct from behavioural frameworks, sets out the Civil Service Code's four core values, maps who oversees standards, and compares the Welsh route through the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales with the English system and its announced reforms, including why fair process protects everyone.

Conflicts of interest are where standards stop being abstract. This module covers actual, potential and perceived conflicts, the Porter v Magill test for apparent bias, a five step discipline for handling an interest, and the legal duties of directors, charity trustees and public office holders. It also covers quasi-judicial meetings and predetermination, influence after leaving office, and the Greensill Capital lobbying case.

Every pound lost to fraud is a pound lost to a service. This module sets out the Fraud Act 2006, the Bribery Act 2010, the new failure to prevent fraud offence and public sector recovery powers, then CIPFA's five principles for managing fraud risk. Drawing on the Covid-19 PPE high priority lane, it covers urgency and controls, procurement red flags and what to do if you suspect wrongdoing.

Honesty means not deceiving people; candour means volunteering what others need to know. This module examines the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, with its proposed duty of candour and codes of ethical conduct, impartial advice as a service, and the statutory duties of monitoring and section 151 officers. The Liverpool City Council case, read through Janis, Bion and Menzies Lyth, informs accountability without scapegoating.

Culture is the code people actually follow, so ethical culture is built by what leaders visibly do. This module covers Chesnut's practices for building integrity, Treviño, Hartman and Brown's moral person and moral manager, and the West Point be, know, do approach to developing character. It shows how to make a code live, how to keep integrity when changing sectors, and closes with a composite Welsh housing case.

Cases land when we see ourselves in them. This capstone applies the programme to three cases: the real Thurrock Council solar investment failure, an illustrative Welsh community council grant with an undeclared interest, and an illustrative officer pressed to remove an admission from an Ombudsman response. Each is read through the programme's themes, and the module draws them together in an ethics loop centred on public trust.