EXTRA-Ministers, their backgrounds and roles Flashcards
When referring to ministers, who does this refer to?
the 100 government members, including Cabinet ministers, ministers of the state, and parliamentary under secretaries
In accordance with constitutional convention, traditionally where have all ministers within the government come from?
from the HOC and HOL
Which PM brought in non-political outsiders to be ministers?
Gordon Brown
Who was Sir Jones who was chosen as a non-poltiical outsider to be a minister by Gordon Brown?
he was the former director general of the CBI
How do politicians normally need to prove themselves in order to become a minister?
they must prove themselves in the HOC and as a junior minister before entering the Cabinet
Ministers have no training so how do they become specialised on their department?
they study their brief quickly and then to work themselves into the job
What 4 qualities will help advancement to be a minister?
ambition
talent
managerial skills
record of loyalty
how many ministers of state and permanent sectaries are there?
c30 each
What are ministers of state and permanent secretaries collectively known as?
junior ministers
Who are below the junior ministers?
the parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs)
How many parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) are there?
40-50
What do parliamentary private secretaries do?
they are the general assistants of ministers and really act as ‘dogsbodies’
Are parliamentary private secretaries paid?
no
At the Department of Health under the Brown administration how many other ministers is the Cabinet minister backed by?
5
Who are ministers very realist on for the work in their department?
civil servants
In what 5 ways are civil servants vital to the running of the department for the minster?
- organise ministers day
- arrange appointments
- write letters on their behalf
- draft replies to parliamentary questions
- offer advice on political issues
What are the 2 main roles of ministers?
- Duties in Cabinet and parliament
- administer a large Whitehall department
What 5 things do ministers do?
- constituency duties
- speak in debates
- appear before select committees
- take their turn in the Despatch Box in Question Time
- pilot legislation through the house concerning their department
In practise what % of the vast array of issues that come up are decided by the minister?
10-15%
What are Next Step programmes?
they advanced in the late 1980’s to transform the civil service institutional arrangements following publication of the Ibbs Report
Since the Next Step programme why has the minsters direct responsibility for what happens in whole areas of government work been reduced?
as the areas of policy making and implementation have been separated for efficiency
Although ministers answer in the Commons on matters covered by an agency, who is the day to day management of the enterprises done by?
Chief Executives who take a share of responsibility for what happens
What is the Ministerial Code?
as amended in 1995, places a clear demand on ministers to watch their behaviour carefully, Ministers myst not knowingly mislead parliament and the public, and they should correct any inadvertent errors at the earliest opportunity. They must be as open as possible with parliament and the public, withholding information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest
Why how many are ministers outnumbered by their senior officials?
by around six or seven to one
What is the average period in any ministerial office?
2 years
What is a limitation on ministers as not pervasively having done work in a department?
they are non-specialist and so often lack knowledge of the departments work
Why is it a disadvantage that ministers are non specialist?
as they rarely clearly possess defined objectives and priorities on taking over
What % of ministers work goes on non-departmental matters?
65%
Why may minsters find it difficult to get key information?
as they are dependent on what their officials tell them or the data with which they are presented
What could officials do by with holding information?
they could embarrass the minister by leaking stories to journalists
Why may minsters find it difficult to get their policies implemented and their decisions carried out?
as officials have over many decades developed the art of delay and frustration of ministerial initiatives
