Letter from the Chair to the Prime Minister
Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP
Prime Minister
Sent by email
13 October 2025
Dear Prime Minister,
Thank you for your letter of 13 October on the launch of the independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, I am honoured to become its first Chair, continuing the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL). I am also pleased that both the independent and political members of the Committee on Standards in Public Life will continue their valuable work on the EIC as we transition from the CSPL.
Thank you for the Commission’s terms of reference setting out its role and remit, which have at their heart CSPL’s core purpose of promoting the highest standards of public life. I look forward to leading the Commission as it continues the important work of promoting the Principles of Public Life and conducting evidence-based reviews to identify improvements to standards arrangements, while developing and implementing its new responsibilities.
The annual report on the state of the standards landscape that you have requested and your response will be highly valuable in raising awareness of current and emerging themes. I look forward to our dialogue on the issues it identifies.
As soon as the Commission has the resources to do so, we will commence the piece of work you have commissioned into what makes an effective code of conduct and how codes can best be embedded into the culture of public sector organisations. Using this as a baseline, the EIC will strive to be a centre of excellence as you describe, offering advice and best practice to public sector organisations to drive high ethical standards.
Thank you for your confidence in my leadership. I am committed to ensuring that the Ethics and Integrity Commission, like its predecessor, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, plays a meaningful and lasting role in strengthening ethical standards across British public life.
Yours sincerely
Doug Chalmers CB DSO OBE
Chair
Ethics and Integrity Commission