Consultation on Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics
The public consultation on our new standards of Conduct, Practice and ethics closed in 2023.
The BPC, as a voluntary regulator that seeks to protect the public, has a set of standards that all Registrants must meet. These standards were laid out in the Ethical Framework, comprised of the Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines, which were published in 2011. The BPC began reviewing these in 2022 to ensure they continue to be fit for purpose, up-to-date and well understood by Member Institutions, Registrants and the public.
We are pleased to launch the Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics 2025 and associated guidance notes, which will replace the Ethical Framework and come into effect from 1 April 2025.
“The Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics replace the Ethical Framework from 1 April 2025”
The initial drafts of the new Standards and guidance were developed by the BPC and were significantly shaped by some of our stakeholders, particularly our Board of Trustees, Screening Committee, Professional Standards Committee and Ethics Committee Working Group.
We then ran a public consultation to seek the views and comments of our stakeholders on the updated Standards of conduct, performance and ethics and supporting Guidance. The consultation ran from 28 April 2023 and closed on 9 September 2023. In total we received 124 responses to the consultation, and we are grateful to all those who took the time to respond with their thoughts and suggestions. To find out more about the responses we received and the decisions we took, you can read the consultation report below.
Since the consultation, the Board and the BPC Executive have reviewed all responses and formed a subcommittee to continue refining the Standards and the guidance. The final versions have now been approved by the Board and shared with our Member Institutions.
You can find the finalised Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics as well as the guidance notes here. These will replace the Ethical Framework (the Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines) on 1 April 2025. Registrants renewing with us in early 2025 for the new membership year will be signing up to these new Standards, as will any new Registrants from 1 April 2025 onwards.
