‘Trust is built and maintained through competence, reliability, and honesty, as well as the building of genuine and sound relationships between the public sector and the public it serves. That means the public sector must be accountable for the management and delivery of public services and outcomes, for the direction and control of the work it does, the resources it manages, and for its behaviour and ethics.’ 

This event looked at how public services can promote a culture of integrity.

A well-known truism is that trust is built slowly, but can be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

We depend a lot on this invisible quality called trust. At Audit Wales maintaining it is integral to achieving our Assure, Explain, Inspire objectives because without trust, why would anyone listen to us?

In 2022, the Office of the Auditor General New Zealand published a report outlining the importance of integrity in public organisations. An ongoing commitment to integrity should be at the core of an organisation, in order to build a culture of integrity which makes doing the right thing the easiest thing to do.

Building integrity in turn builds trust, which is the currency we all use to allow us to fulfil our roles.

We have all heard Peter Drucker’s famous quote; that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, which emphasises the importance of acting with integrity to build culture and achieve lasting change. ‘Show, don’t tell’ is as important in management as it is in film-making or writing a novel.

On December 5, Audit Wales; Good Practice Exchange will be hosting a lively panel discussion on the matter of integrity. Featuring contributors from The Office of the Auditor General New Zealand, ICEAEW, CIPFA and Audit Wales as well.

The panel discussed integrity and trust, and responding to your questions and comments.