Standards watchdog calls on public sector organisations to foster culture of openness in bid to address early warning signs of emerging problems

Public sector organisations must facilitate a culture where speaking up about concerns and learning from mistakes are "seen as a personal duty and are valued by everyone in the organisation", the Committee for Standards in Public Life has urged.

The committee's report, 'Recognising and responding to early warning signs in public sector bodies', published today (25 March), also calls on organisations to focus on spotting early warning signs, boost accountability, and pursue transparent leadership to improve service delivery.

The report details how public sector bodies – including local authorities – can help recognise the early warning signs of emerging problems and facilitate a culture of speaking up about concerns.

It includes examples of how organisations have identified and responded to the early warning signs and details 20 'points for reflection' to help assist leaders in considering whether improvements can be made to their organisation's processes and culture.

The report noted that accountability mechanisms are "crucial" for public service delivery.

It highlighted the following basic characteristics that "should be common to all organisations": a clear governance and accountability structure, a well-defined set of objectives, effective systems for monitoring performance, finance and risk, and a strong and active sponsorship relationship between organisations in the same delivery chain.

On risk, the report noted that "everyone within a public sector body has a responsibility to identify and report risks", adding that it is key that frontline workers and their managers have processes in place to identify potential issues.

Encouraging a culture where people feel safe to speak up is also "a core part of an organisation's ability to identify and act on risks", the report added.

In addition, collating data and interpreting it "intelligently" is an important aspect of managing risk, as data allows links to be made across the records held by an organisation, according to the report.

The report, meanwhile, noted that making information available about what an organisation does and how it does it can help the public and bodies charged with holding an organisation accountable.

"Withholding information merely to protect the institution (or its members) from scrutiny does not meet the Nolan Principle of openness," it said.

The report added: "The more power an organisation has over citizens' lives, the more transparent it needs to be about what it is doing and how.

"Meaningful transparency also requires that information is presented in a manner that is clear, intelligible and, where appropriate, in context so that the full significance of the information can be understood."

Good record management is also a "prerequisite" for an accountable organisation, it added.

Information about why decisions were made should be preserved should it be necessary to review the decisions in the future, and contemporaneous records provide some assurance that it is an accurate reflection of what happened.

Documenting decisions accurately also enables organisations to learn lessons when things go wrong and to evaluate comprehensively the success or failure of projects or policies, it added.

The report said that public sector bodies need to support scrutiny bodies – like ombudsmen, regulators and inspectors – in their task by being responsive to requests for information and by seeing them not as a threat but as a provider of constructive challenge and a source of insight about how they can be better.

On this point, the report highlighted the cultural shift at Liverpool City Council following engagement with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The report quoted Nigel Ellis, Chief Executive of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, saying the city council had seen an "absolute shift in internal culture, whereby they have started listening to people in a different way".

He continued: "It has not been that immediate defensive, 'No, it is not us.' People get caught up in that, where there is no direction within the organisation.

"If you shift the attitude to say, 'Okay, if we listen to what this person is saying, give them the space and time to express their views, it is likely that is going to help us understand how what we are doing is landing with the people who are relying on our service.'

"Liverpool is a very good example of an open mind and a bold approach."

Elsewhere, the report urged public sector organisations to have processes in place for reviewing scenarios where things do not go according to plan, identifying the lessons that can be learned and then ensuring that these lessons are embedded within the organisation.

"Public sector bodies should also take note of recurring themes when things go wrong elsewhere in public life and consider what their own organisation might learn from these crises", the report added.

The committee also recommended that public office holders should share learning when projects, policies and procedures work well "so that these successes can support improvements in public service delivery elsewhere".

On leadership, the committee meanwhile said it "is clear" that leadership is the "most important" factor in an organisation that successfully identifies and addresses emerging issues promptly and is willing to learn from its mistakes.

The report highlighted three qualities of leadership: clarity, consistency, and consequences.

It said that leaders must be "clear that they welcome potential problems being brought to their attention early" and that everyone in the organisation has a duty to deal with the public with openness and honesty.

Regarding consistency, the report said leaders must be role models for the standards they expect of others, even under pressure.

While on consequences, the report said leaders must address behaviour that is inconsistent with a culture that values people raising concerns.

Launching the committee's new report, CSPL chair Doug Chalmers said: "Our evidence shows there are things organisations can do to increase the likelihood of risks and issues being uncovered. 

"When leaders are committed to advocating the benefits of an open culture and listen with curiosity when staff raise concerns, or offer suggestions for better ways of doing things, organisations can spot risks and make improvements. 

"It is not always easy to speak up - it requires moral courage to be the person who says, 'I'm not sure this is going to plan'. But in doing so, we honour the basic contract that holders of public office have with the public we serve."

He added: "We want this report to bring change, stimulating leaders across the public sector to reflect on how they can better equip their organisations and people to identify and respond to the early signs of a problem and achieve better outcomes for the public."

Adam Carey