The Commissioner and his team work in two areas:

· Public standards - we investigate complaints about the conduct of MSPs, local authority councillors and members of public bodies

· Public appointments - we monitor how people are appointed to the boards of specified public bodies in Scotland

You can find out more about the Commissioner’s work on the pages of this website.

Our work on
public standards

The Commissioner is an independent Officeholder who is responsible for investigating complaints about:-

who are alleged to have contravened their relevant Code of Conduct.

More information on public standards can be found here.

Featured Publication

Date Added: 09 Aug 2017

Minutes of the Management Team Meeting held on 20 June 2017.

The Commissioner regulates the way appointments are made to the boards of Scotland's public bodies. The Commissioner:

publishes a code of practice to be followed when making non-executive appointments to the boards of public bodies
examines the practices used during appointment rounds with a view to ensuring they comply with the code of practice
investigates complaints about the public appointments process
monitors appointments with a view to ensuring they are made fairly and openly and that everyone who may be interested in an appointment has the opportunity to apply.

More information on public appointments can be found here.

The Commissioner's Annual Report and Accounts for 2015-16 was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 9 September 2016.

To find out what documents the Commissioner publishes and how to access them, please go to our Guide to Information.

An opportunity has arisen in the office of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.