Holders of public office are expected to adhere and
uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board
Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully:
- any
outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a
company providing services to government;
- any
possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or or public
statements that you have made;
- and/or
- any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have
supported;
which may call into question your ability to do the
role you are applying for.
You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when
making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily
resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being
interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss
any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals
you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers.
Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of
which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or
professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements
and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The
successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests
and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with
organisational policies.
Details of declared political activity will be
published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code
(political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).