TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Ethics and Accountability TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY WHAT DO WE MEAN? WHAT DO WE DO? HOW TRANSPARENT SHOULD WE BE? FREEDOM OF INFORMATION THE NEW PUBLIC SERVICE DEFAULTS

2. BE TRANSPARENT To be transparent is to let people ‘see through us’ - see what we do, what we intend to do, and why. Transparency builds trust, shows honesty and integrity, exposes corruption • But how do we ‘operationalise’ transparency? • To be transparent what must be done? • by us and by our departments? • in our activities? Ethics and Accountability

3. INFORM, or TELL • How well do we tell clients and general public what we are doing and why? • Are there annual reports, press releases, newsletters, etc, to ‘target’ groups including end-users? • Are the messages effective? • Do people get the message? • How do we know? Ethics and Accountability

4. RESPOND Invite questions; give answers People should know where and who to ask • Do people know where to seek information? • Give them an address, hotline number, a name. People should find what they want to know • How readily is information given? • How quickly is it given? • OR told why they cannot be told! Ethics and Accountability

5. LISTEN … Information needs to flow both ways Do we listen to others – seek their views and inputs about the quality of service? Do we ask for their priorities for change? • Do we use ‘suggestions boxes’? • Do we conduct surveys? • Do we meet with ‘focus groups’? • Do we get their ideas, and feedback • ‘Quality Assurance’ of service received? Ethics and Accountability

6. CONSULT • Do we involve clients and the general public in shaping, deciding and implementing policies? • Consultation leads to participation in which citizens co-operate to maintain the transparency of government and otherorganisations. Ethics and Accountability

7. AN EXAMPLE FROM INDIA The ‘MKSS’ a controversial movement in Rajasthan • ‘Educated’ citizens demanded access to accounts of local government; gave info to villagers (wall charts) • Villagers found payments had been made • ‘for clinics, schools and public toilets that had never been built, for workers … long dead, and for disaster relief that never arrived’ • DEMANDED MORE INFORMATION • Similar actions have worked well elsewhere Ethics and Accountability

8. AND FROM NIGERIA… An NGO Zero Corruption Coalition Ran a hotline for the Ministry of Finance • People trusted NGO staff more than officials • to complain, to report suspected corruption Set up monitoring services in villages • Also posting accounts on boards • And checking VFM Ethics and Accountability

9. SET INFORMATION FREE? • A ‘Freedom of information’ policy, gives citizens a ‘right to know’ in the US, Japan, the ADB, etc • When introduced in Japan, 2001, as earlier in US • it cost much time and money, reduced productivity • it changed the way people worked • making officials even more risk averse • (more meetings, less minutes) • But ADB policy causes less difficulty because it excludes access to initial policy proposals, etc Ethics and Accountability

10. A CHANGING WORK CULTURE • Getting better transparency and accountability changes the work culture, the defaults of Public Service • From telling the public nothing, • unless authorised to tell • To telling everything, • except what is expressly forbidden, and then explaining why they cannot be told! • with a loss of power in consequence Ethics and Accountability

11. HOW MUCH TRANSPARENCY? • There are many calls for more transparency • Should there be limits? If so, what guides us? • We need confidentiality, not transparency for • police investigations before prosecutionand in revealing sources of evidence in court • commercial competition, or bidders collude • national and global security • staff proposals on policies, etc • privacy, but why? What else? Ethics and Accountability

12. TRANSPARENCY: the DANGERS • Demands for ‘MORE TRANSPARENCY’ are seen by staff as an indication of mistrust • The objective needs to be explained – to… • ‘Build Trust in Government and Public Service’ • With a personal responsibility to ensure our actions allow no ‘reasonable suspicion’ • ALSO remember, beware targets • discredited by experience in the USSR (state farms) and the UK (health)! Ethics and Accountability

13. GIVE ACCOUNT • To give account means more than just acting responsibly, we must report, tell, or give feedback • In English there is one word, ‘accountability’ If you give me a letter to post, • to be responsible, I must post the letter • to be accountable, I tell you (or others) I posted it • to be more accountable, I tell you(and them) where and when I posted it In French, Korean, Spanish, Thai … there is no one-word translation for accountability Ethics and Accountability

14. GIVE ACCOUNT: TO WHOM? • I need to give account to ‘the Boss’ • to the public and their elected leaders • to clients I serve directly, to the general public • to future generations, to God … • ‘Giving account’ by an organisation includes: • annual reports (for different readers?) • ‘project’ reports / reports to end users • tell about the money, audited accounts • reports of work intended, policy changes Ethics and Accountability

15. TO IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY WE NEED A SEPARATION OF POWERS ACCOUNTABLE TO EACH OTHER • In the State • between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary • (the changing roles of a President?) • In Business • ‘Outside’ auditors with no conflict of interest • Within the Organisation • with different people to place orders, check goods, make payments Ethics and Accountability

16. Institution and functions Ministers decide policies Parliament/Legislaturecheck on policies, & Ministers Civil/Public Service servecitizens, enforce regulationsimplement & draft policies Judiciary, Army, Police... Parties, Companies, Media, CSOs, NGOs, families Giving account to Parliament People, electorate Ministers, Customersand the Public ? ? GIVING ACCOUNT Ethics and Accountability

17. ACCOUNTABILITY: the DANGERS • Demands for ‘MORE ACCOUNTABILITY’ • require everybody to ‘give account’ • For what do we give account, how? • Try the checklist, select ONE ‘target’ • Managers tell staff to write reports • (which they may think are never read!) • The best staff hate this most! • they want more time to do the work, • to get results, give good service … Ethics and Accountability

18. COSTS AND BENEFITS TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: • What are the costs? Who pays? • What are the benefits? Who benefits? • The dangers of excess; But the great value of trust • The usefulness of random or ‘spot checks’ • The value of outsiders • and others with no long-term interests • the retired, on non-renewable contracts! Ethics and Accountability