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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Other areas of social welfare law  →  Thread

Ethical Decision-Making Model

Elliot Kent
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Joined: 14 July 2014

An interesting new document published by the Home Office on its new Ethical Decision Making-Model:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ethical-decision-making-model

This is guidance which was encouraged by the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. According to the guidance “The review found that decisions were sometimes based on completing a checklist, rather than assessing or evaluating a case in its full context” and that “staff were aware that unintended impacts of Home Office decisions were occurring, but the culture and processes did not facilitate those concerns being raised or addressed”. This was all in a context of a “lack of engagement and empathy with customers”.

The basic point of the guidance seems to be to encourage staff who are experiencing “decision discomfort” - i.e. feeling that their application of law or guidance is leading to a result which is morally wrong or inhumane - to either give second thought to their initial decision and consider whether they have any powers or discretions which can be used to avoid that outcome or to raise the case with their superiors.

I wonder if there is anything in this guidance which might be usefully applied in other government departments.

via Free Movement : https://www.freemovement.org.uk/ethical-decision-making-framework-home-office/