Committee on Standards in Public Life

The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government, established in 1994 to advise the Prime Minister on ethical standards of public life.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an independent advisory non-departmental public body, with a secretariat and budget provided by the Cabinet Office. It is responsible for:

The Committee does not investigate individual allegations of misconduct, that being the role of the relevant regulator.

The Committee is made up of the chair, five independent members appointed by the Prime Minister following open competition, and three political members appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the leaders of the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party.

As of 2015, the Committee members were Lord Paul Bew (Chair), The Lord Alderdice, The Rt Hon Dame Margaret Beckett DBE MP, Sheila Drew Smith OBE, Patricia Moberly, Richard Thomas CBE, Dame Angela Watkinson DBE MP.

The Committee was initially established in October 1994 by the Prime Minister, John Major, in response to concerns that conduct by some politicians was unethical—-for example, during the cash-for-questions affair.

The Committee's original terms of reference were:

To examine current concerns about standards of conduct of all holders of public office, including arrangements relating to financial and commercial activities, and make recommendations as to any changes in present arrangements which might be required to ensure the highest standards of propriety in public life.

The term "public office" was defined to include ministers, civil servants and advisers; Members of Parliament and UK Members of the European Parliament; Members and senior officers of all non-departmental public bodies and of national health service bodies; non-ministerial office holders; members and other senior officers of other bodies discharging publicly funded functions; and elected members and senior officers of local authorities.

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