Welcome to the website of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland
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.
Read more about the background to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards
Our work on
public standards
The Commissioner is an independent Officeholder who is responsible for investigating complaints about:-
- Councillors;
- Members of devolved Public Bodies;
- Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
who are alleged to have contravened their relevant Code of Conduct.
More information on public standards can be found here.
Featured Publication
CESPLS Legislative Background
Date Added: 05 Nov 2018
This document details the legislation under-pinning the office of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. It also includes a flowchart detailing the history of the organisation and the previous incumbents of key posts.
Our work on
public appointments
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.
What we publish
To find out what documents the Commissioner publishes and how to access them, please go to our Guide to Information.