After the government’s reforms, local authorities now have less capacity to detect and investigate instances of misconduct in public life

With the abolition of the Audit Commission and Standards Board, the government has radically reformed the monitoring and investigation of ethical standards in local government. Alan Doig discusses these changes and sets them in a wider context of reform, for instance the changing relationships between councils, the police and the NHS. He argues that the lack of common standards and falling local capacity increases the risk of misconduct being carried out, and going unpunished, by those in public life.