ABSTRACT
Governance and accountabilities and the professionalising of the police are very much within the remit of the Commission's terms of reference. Standards of conduct and of competency matter not least, as Sir Christopher Kelly states in the opening statement to the 2013 annual report on standards in public life:
They are particularly important where public money is being spent on public services or public functions. Citizens have a right to expect that holders of public office who take decisions which affect their lives should do so with impartiality, should be truthful about what they are doing and should use public money wisely. Society can expect better outcomes when decisions are made fairly and on merit and not influenced by personal or private interests. Organisations in every sector benefit from greater legitimacy when the public has confidence in their integrity.
