5. Central Government and Accountability

Question 1

Through what three means does the Prime Minister have the power to change the organisation of government?

Answer 1

By abolishing, merging, or creating new government departments

Question 2

What is the exception to the general convention that ministers must have a seat in either House?

Answer 2

A person who does not have a seat in either House can become as minister, as long as they become a member of the House of Lords by being granted life peerage after becoming a minister

Question 3

Are decisions made by a cabinet committee of the same authority as as Cabinet decision?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

What is the Carltona doctrine?

Answer 4

The principle by which Parliament accepts, in granting a power via an Act to a Secretary of State, that the power could be exercised by any civil servant in the Secretary’s department

Question 5

What is the main function of the Privy Council?

Answer 5

To approve decisions made by government using Orders of Council, under either royal or statutory prerogatives

Question 6

What is the function of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council?

Answer 6

Hear appeals on points of law from Commonwealth nations or British Overseas Territories who lack a final appeal court of their own

Question 7

What is collective responsibility and what are its two main elements?

Answer 7

Government ministers are required to maintain support for government policy in public and before parliament, and the two elements are confidentiality and unanimity

Question 8

Once a decision has been reached by government, what must a minister do if they feel they cannot support a particular policy in public and in Parliament?

Answer 8

They must resign

Question 9

What was the situation each of the three times in which collective responsibility was set aside by the Prime Minister, allowing ministers to depart from an agreed government view in public?

Answer 9

Referendum

Question 10

What must a minister do if they have mislead Parliament (1) inadvertently and (2) intentionally?

Answer 10

1. Correct the inadvertent error as soon as possible
2. Resign

Question 11

For what type of failures must a minister (1) give account and (2) take responsibility?

Answer 11

1. Give account: Operational failure (department overall is at fault)
2. Take responsibility: Policy failure (minister personally to blame)

Question 12

What should a minister ensure there is no conflict between?

Answer 12

Their ministerial duties and their personal interests

Question 13

Who is the ultimate arbiter of whether the Ministerial Code has been breached and whether a minister should resign?

Answer 13

The Prime Minister

Question 14

Under the requirement that government has the confidence of the House of Commons, what should government be to Parliament?

Answer 14

Accountable

Question 15

How many questions can the Leader of the Opposition ask in Prime Minister’s Question Time?

Answer 15

Six

Question 16

In ministerial questions, what five issues are MPs not allowed to ask of government departments who rotate on a five-weekly basis?

Answer 16

1. Local authorities
2. Monarch
3. Affairs of other countries
4. Devolved matters
5. Case currently before a court

Question 17

When can ministerial questions be asked in written form, and within what time limit must the relevant government department respond?

Answer 17

Any time. Seven days.

Question 18

Whilst government business usually takes priority over all other business, how many days are allocated to opposition parties to debate policy areas of their choosing?

Answer 18

20 days

Question 19

What function does a Cabinet Minister serve?

Answer 19

Forms part of the executive whose function is to implement statute, rather than create them.

Question 20

What are the key Parliamentary procedures to keep the executive accountable?

Answer 20

1) PMs Question time - every Wednesday appears in Parliament to answer ?s.
2) Debates - days to debate on issues chosen by MPs.
3) Select Committees - backbencher MPs for each government department scrutinise the governement’s activities.

Question 21

How is the separation of powers between the executive and the legislature best achieved?

Answer 21

1) Individual ministerial accountability and collective cabinet responsability
2) Number of government ministers sitting in HoCs is capped at 95.
3) Members of the executive - police, civil servants, holders of judicial office, and armed forces - cannot be MPs.