Responsible Gov Flashcards
Who is the central executive
Prime Minister & cabinet
Who is PM appointed by
Appointed by King (only a formality)
- leader of the political party with the most seats in HoC will become PM
Powers of PM
Advising King to appoint or remove Ministers, size and composition of cabinet, policy direction of Gov, when cabinet meets
What is Cabinet Office
Department of UK Government
- supports PM
- ensures civil service help fulfil policy goals
Responsible for:
- government policy, political and constitutional reform, civil service, supporting national security council and joint intelligence organisation
Roles within the Cabinet Office
PM is a minister in cabinet
- head of civil service is senior Gov official in cabinet
Who is in privy council
Over 700 people who have held high political or judicial office
(Majority of their day-to-day responsibilities are carried out my Government Ministers instead)
Privy council responsibilities
- advise monarch on exercising royal prerogative
Who is in the cabinet
Body of senior Ministers and headed by PM
- Lord Chancellor
- chief secretary to the treasury
- leader of HoC
(State ministers NOT included)
Does Cabinet exist in law or convention only
Convention only
What are cabinet committees
PM controls it (subject matter etc)
Deal with specific areas of Gov administration
They relieve pressure of decision making from the cabinet
Their decisions hold the same eight as normal cabinet
What is COMBR
Cabinet office briefing room
- provides mechanism for agreeing Gov response to emergencies
Eg. Terrorist attack or pandemic
Collective ministerial responsibility ideals
- confidentiality (duty to not disclose anything discussed with cabinet) AG v Jonathan Cape (confidentiality not enforced by courts but showed it could be protected in future)
- unanimity (if all ministers cannot agree they should resign)
- confidence (where Gov’s majority is fragile a vote of no confidence may be taken)
General convention of individual ministerial responsibility
Ministers should accept responsibility and resign for any failures in their department
Innovation in individual ministerial responsibility
Obligations have become much weaker
Crichel Down Affair led to Maxwell Fyfe guidelines
Minister should not resign if
- official makes a mistake or caused some kind of delay but not on an important issue of policy
- civil servant taken action of which minister disproved and had no prior knowledge of
Further change
1983 James Prior refused to resign following a mass breakout of prisoners from Maze prison
Ministerial Code 13b & c
- Ministers have a duty to P to account and be held account for policies, decisions and actions of their depts & agencies
- It is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to P, correcting any inadvertent error at earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly misled P will be expected to offer their resignation to P
Ministerial Code background
First version published Tony Blair 1997
- sets out principles expected of ministers
Ministerial Code 7 principles of public life
Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership
What is the ministerial code
An unenforceable set of rules
- written rules so more tangible than twin conventions (CMR & IMR)
- soft law at most
Areas it covers:
- conduct, CMR, transparent engagement with P, avoiding conflict of interest, proper use of Gov resources
Who does ministerial code apply to
Gov Ministers, some parliamentary private secretaries, some special advisors
Consequence of breaching ministerial code
- PM consult with cabinet secretary
- refer matter to PM’s independent advisor on Minister’s interests
- independent advisor may initiate investigation into breach (subject to PM consent)
Evolution of ministerial code
Usually updated when new PM
- nowadays more political so include gov policy
-
How does ministerial code codify CMR
‘May argue freely in private while maintaining a United front when a decision has been made’
What do we mean when we say ministerial code covers engagement with parliament (most important)
Ministers must account for policies and decisions made in their department
- should provide P with info and be as open as possible
- eg. Esther McVey misled P to believe national audit office wanted universal credit to be rolled out faster
Ministerial code: conflict of interest codified
Principle 7: ‘no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise between public duty and private interests, financial or otherwise
- eg. Priti Patel forced to resign as she conducted unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers and business representatives (however she was appointed as Home Secretary after by Boris Johnson)
- Priti Patel then accused again for doing paid strategic consulting work without seeking approval from advisory committee on business appointments as suggested by code
Ministerial Code: moral codes with colleagues
Clauses re treating colleagues with respect
- eg. Dominic Raab resigned after report found him responsible for intimidation and overly aggressive criticism
Civil service cabinet Manual definition
supports the Gov of the day, to develop and implement its policies, and in delivering public services, civil servants are required to carry out their role in accordance with values set out in the civil service code and constitutional reform and governance act. Central to this is the requirement for political impartiality
3 constitutional principles for civil service
- permanence (gov does not want to change new personnel with every new PM)
- political neutrality
- anonymity
Who may be called to give department evidence to P
- accounting officers
- senior responsible owners
Both to parliamentary select committees
Civil service core values from Civil Service Code
Integrity, honesty, objectivity, impartiality
- different to ministerial code as civil servants can get dismissed for deceit or incompetence (however ministers cannot dismiss)
- civil service code equivalent of employment contract
How can civil servants be held accountable
Dismissal
Being questioned by parliamentary select committee
Different types of Parliamentary scrutiny
Select committees & legislative committees (public Bill)
Select committees
- operate in both HoC & HoL
HoC - HoC select the committees
- scrutinise Gov Depts
- each department shadowed by a separate committee
HoL - broader scrutiny on general topic areas like technology and the UK Constitution
Who are in select committees
HoC select committee- MPs (reflects political party balance of the House, selected by their internal party, min 11 members)
HoL select committee- Lords (members appointed by the House by vote on the proposal of committee of selection- no fixed number & no rule of political stance)
Joint select committee- both
Committee names & how long does Gov have to respond after the committee summon their evidence and publish their report
- within 60 days of publication
HoC: - public accounts committee, transport committee, committee on standards
HoL: - intergenerational fairness and provision committee, gambling industry committee
Joint Select Committee: - on human rights, for national security strategy, on statutory instruments, on consolidation Bills
Summoning powers of committee
to send for persons, papers and records, have power to summon and examine witnesses
Any witness that refuses to attend is reported to the House and an order made for his attendance at the bar to be admonished by the speaker
Civil servants, ministers, MPs & Lords cannot be summoned this way
If the summons is then ignored a warrant may be issued
