Committee on Standards in Public Life

The Nolan Committee's first report, published May 31, 1995 The committee under Lord Nolan produced something unusually durable: the Seven Principles of Public Life. First set out in that report, they apply to every public office holder and to private and voluntary bodies delivering services paid for by public money. The committee carries on as an independent adviser to the Prime Minister on ethical standards, though it is not a regulator and cannot investigate individual complaints. This is the entry here that changed how officials are judged rather than how any one service runs, which is why later standards rows are still argued in Nolan's terms.