We help organisations that want to make a greater social impact, respond to change and meet the needs of their communities.

• Home
• About OPM
• The work we do
• Ideas, areas and approaches
• Publications and events
• Forums/blog

insert_validation.inc

Following extensive research and consultation, the Independent Commission on Good Governance in Public Services produced the Good Governance Standard for Public Services. The Standard is available to download:

Good Governance Standard for Public Services (pdf, 425kb)

Printed copies of the Standard are also available. You can buy a single copy from our on-line bookstore. Discounts are available for multiple copies but you will need to phone us to request a discount (not available on line). phone 020 7239 0877.

The Standard has been well received: download some comments on the Standard (pdf, 90kb). You can also download a report of how organisations have been using the Standard.

Background

Over 450,000 people in the UK hold governance positions (excluding local government councillors). They are governors in schools, hospitals, police authorities, housing associations and national public bodies. Their duty is to:

• help formulate strategy;
• steward the expenditure of public money;
• ensure probity and transparency; and
• appoint, monitor and support top management.

Good governance is crucial for effective public services and improved social outcomes.

Problems with public sector governance

Some, but not all, parts of the public and voluntary sectors have devised good governance guidelines. The guidelines that have been developed vary enormously. This provides a poor basis for the public to compare and assess the effectiveness of governance arrangements or to demand improvement.

Research by OPM (Rubber Stamped?, 2003) shows that many governors appointed to public service organisations feel unable to carry out their jobs fully or effectively, thus undermining the effectiveness of their organisations. Where governors lack guidance about what their roles and responsibilities should be, it is difficult for them to argue for change.

The common code

In the private sector, governance has been strengthened significantly through the Cadbury, Greenbury and Higgs reports. These resulted in The Combined Code: Principles of Good Governance and Code of Best Practice. It is a short document that sets out clearly the principles of good governance and allows shareholders and stakeholders to call upon boards to comply with the commonly accepted standards or explain the reasons for not doing so.

The Code was developed independently from regulatory agencies, and then adopted widely by the business community and by regulators themselves. There is no equivalent code of good governance for the thousands of non-departmental public bodies, local public sector authorities and voluntary sector contractors that serve the public, or for new organisations (such as NHS foundation trusts).

An independent inquiry

The Office for Public Management (OPM) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, established an independent Commission to develop a common standard of good governance for all public services.

The Commission comprised a small group of eminent leaders from the public, voluntary and private sectors, who:

• identified the main issues and any related research that was needed;
• considered submissions of evidence; and
• constructed a common standard for good governance in public services.

The Commission was chaired by Sir Alan Langlands, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Dundee and former Chief Executive of the National Health Service.

Collecting and analysing evidence

The Commission was supported by research, to ensure that its work was well grounded in evidence and a wide range of experience. See our background paper.

 

---