Terms of reference

IPS Experts Group: Framework

Introducing a Public Panel and an Experts Group are commitments set out in A Response to Consultation in November 2008. This document is the framework for the Experts Group.  It sets out the terms of reference and expected conduct. The framework was discussed and agreed at the first meeting of the Experts Group in December 2009.

Definition

The Experts Group provide independent expertise to inform the development of the National Identity Service.

The Public Panel and the Experts Group are non-statutory bodies; members of the Public Panel are volunteers drawn from the public; and members of the Experts Group have a range of professional expertise relevant to the operation of the 2006 Act.  Both bodies have been established to provide the Identity & Passport Service with a range of views which will inform the development of the National Identity Register and the issue of United Kingdom passports.[1]

Terms of Reference

The Experts Group will provide independent views to:

Shape policy and National Identity Service delivery through challenge and review;

Help the Public Panel to identify, understand and question relevant issues; and promote the Public Panel's views and recommendations;

Contribute to the development of the Identity Rights Charter;

Share their knowledge and learning across different disciplines, with IPS and with Government.

The Group will aim to offer a holistic view, informed by the full range of expertise of members wherever practical.  Views are expected to be robust, concise and evidence based. It will be for the Group to consider whether peer group review or other professional scrutiny is appropriate for any of the Group's outputs.

Members are encouraged to draw responsibly on their learning and experience from the Group to stimulate informed debate about the National Identity Service in wider networks.

The Experts Group may also provide views to the Identity Commissioner to assist him in his duties. The Experts Group Convenor will consult the IPS Chief Executive, or the Home Office Chief Scientist, beforehand to ensure there is no conflict of interest.

Working methods

The Experts Group will draw up a work programme with IPS and the Convenor will ensure, in consultation with the Public Panel Chairs, that their needs are met.

The Group will agree frequency of meetings, whether to pursue themes of work in strands or subgroups, or how to use collaborative tools to progress work between meetings.

The Experts Group Convenor will report the Group's views to both the IPS CEO and the Home Office Chief Scientific Advisor.

A diagram of governance is at Annex A. The Convenor will be the spokesperson for the Group, where necessary, and will alert the IPS CEO to any media activity; and also to requests for members to speak on behalf of the Group, for example at seminars. Where members are approached by the media, and prior notification to or consultation with the Convenor is not practicable, members should make it clear that their view is not necessarily the view of the IPS Experts Group.

Outputs from the Group will be published on the IPS website, with the exception of information which may be commercially sensitive or is about security or the investigation of crime.

Members

Members of the Group are appointed as Independent Advisors to IPS for a period up to the end of December 2011 in the first instance. This may be extended by mutual agreement. A short biography of the Convenor and of members will be published with any conflict of interest on the IPS website.

Members who do not hold extant Government security clearance are requested to complete clearance.

Conduct

Members of the Experts Group are expected to observe the Seven Principles of Public Life:

• Selflessness: holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.
• Integrity: holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties.
• Objectivity: in carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.
• Accountability: holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.
• Openness: holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.
• Honesty: holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interests.
• Leadership: holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

In particular , members should  make clear when speaking or writing in a personal  or professional capacity -and identified as an Independent Advisor - that their views are not necessarily those of the Group, (unless there is agreement that they should present the Group's view).