The Woolf Inquiry into the LSE’s Links with Libya (“Woolf Inquiry”) noted that, as universities now resemble global companies in size, complexity and reach, they should have an overall code dealing with ethics and the management of reputational risk.

The Woolf Inquiry further recommended that whilst specific policies are needed to deal with ethical issues which are complex and which require a detailed level of consideration, these should fall under the umbrella of a wider institutional statement on ethical practice. It suggested that this wider institutional statement should provide a first port of call for individuals facing a situation involving ethical or reputational risk and should help with the publicising of associated policies, and should help to guard against individual policies that develop in a fragmented way.