Blog: 21 July 2023 - Deborah Evans, LLG CEO

Ethics, standards, risk, and leadership culture

Recent public interest reports and Independent Inquiries shine a much-needed light on the importance of ethics and standards in ensuring good decision-making in local government.

Ethics refers to morally right and wrong decision making. Standards typically encompasses acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Law, policy, and guidance goes some way to defining acceptable conduct and decision making, but “legal” and “ethical” aren't necessarily the same. Your culture defines ‘how things are done around here’ in your council. Your culture will dictate who has authority, who is consulted, the speed you move, and how risk averse you are.

Ethics enhances the law by outlining acceptable behaviour beyond the control of legislation. The world is ambiguous and does not stay still, so it is essential that both officers and members are adept at understanding what socially acceptable behaviour looks like. Ethics is also intrinsically linked with risk - an ethical decision will avoid legal risk, manage financial risk, and guard against reputational risk such as a backlash from the community or media.

So, how do you navigate this ethical landscape? It’s about balancing the positives with the negatives. If the council make this decision, or takes this action, or indeed does nothing, what will the reaction from our residents be?

Without due care and consideration, good people can make bad decisions. Just because you can, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Our regulators are interested in how morals shape legal decision making and are starting conversations with us about the ethical dilemmas you face on a day-to-day basis.

The recent Independent Inquiry on the Sheffield Trees Dispute demonstrates the impact and risk of decision making in an ethical context. Whilst it is legally permissible to remove trees from the perspective of managing the health of the tree stock and maintaining highways, that does not per se give the Council ‘Carte Blanche’ to remove hundreds of mature, healthy trees against the will of residents. It shows how important it is to collaborate with the communities and residents, rather than being viewed as an aggressor. The ethical question for officers and members is not solely ‘Is the council legally able to do this’ but ‘should the council do it, and if so, how?

Similarly, the need for managing risk - looking at investment and funding decisions against a shifting financial landscape - is well illustrated by the situation in Woking. An ethical decision explores all potential options and outcomes to ensure the decision does not create risk. If the council is borrowing money to undertake significant investment, is it affordable if the interest rate changes? If we see a societal shift - such as the decline of the High Street - is the decision still sound? The thinking is complex, fast moving, and sometimes pressing the pause button is the most sensible thing to do.

The Monitoring Officer is an essential tool in ensuring ethics and standards are maintained, risk is managed, and the culture is open and transparent. The Monitoring Officer is the conscience of the council, ensuring decisions are legally compliant, acts as a sounding board for ideas, and helps understand the risks in decision making. The three statutory roles within the Golden Triangle are vital to the delivery of good decision making and compliant outcomes; with ethics, standards, risk, and culture at its heart.

LLG held its Monitoring Officers Conference this week where we explored these themes in far more detail. We will continue to build on the work we are doing with Browne Jacobson and LGIU to examine the role of the Monitoring Officer and the pivotal part it plays in good governance. We hope to be able to share the findings with you at our Governance Conference in November.

Best Wishes
Deborah Evans
CEO