Lecture 5: Individual Ministerial Responsibility and the Civil Service Flashcards
What is “Individual Responsibility?
Individual responsibility is a constitutional convention
Ministers must provide Parliament with full and accurate information about their department’s activities.
What is the Ministerial Code?
The Ministerial Code is a political guide, though not legally binding) that sets rules for how ministers should behave. It says ministers are responsible for what their departments do and decide.
What do ministers have individual responsibility for?
Ministers have individual responsibility for:
Their personal conduct, including their private life.
The policies and work of their specific government department
The acts and omissions of civil servants in their department.
What standard of conduct is expected from Ministers?
Ministers must maintain a higher standard of conduct than others in public life
What does the Ministerial Code say about Ministers’ behavior?
According to the Ministerial Code,
Ministers must behave properly and set a good example.
They should act responsibly.
They are answerable to the Prime Minister for how they behave.
What was the Profumo Affair (1963) and its impact?
The Profumo Affair (1963) was when John Profumo, the War Secretary, resigned after lying to Parliament about an affair.
Although the affair raised security concerns, it was his lie to Parliament that caused his resignation.
What happened with Matt Hancock (2021)?
Matt Hancock resigned as Health Secretary after CCTV showed him breaking his own COVID rules during an affair.
His actions didn’t affect his department’s work, but they damaged public trust.
Does personal misconduct always result in ministerial sanctions?
Priti Patel in 2020 was accused of bullying civil servants, but PM Boris Johnson decided there was no breach of the Ministerial Code, and she was not dismissed.
but the PMs ethics advisor resigned after the decision
What are Ministers responsible for regarding their department?
Ministers are in charge of everything their department does or doesn’t do, even mistakes by civil servants
They lead the department and are held responsible when things go wrong.
What is the concept behind “the buck stops with the Minister”?
“The buck stops with the Minister” means they are responsible for any mistakes in their department because they’re in charge and make the final decisions.
What happened in the Amber Rudd (2018) Windrush scandal?
in 2018, Amber Rudd quit as Home Secretary after the Home Office wrongly detained and deported members of the Windrush generation.
Even though she said she didn’t know about deportation targets, she resigned for giving incorrect information to Parliament.
What does the Cabinet Manual state about civil servants’ accountability?
The Cabinet Manual states that civil servants are accountable to Ministers, who are then accountable to Parliament.
What are the Osmotherly Rules?
The Osmotherly Rules guide civil servants when speaking to parliamentary committees. They speak for their ministers and follow their instructions.
What is the political neutrality of civil servants?
Civil servants must remain politically neutral in their roles.
What is the Carltona Principle?
The Carltona Principle means Civil servants can make decisions on behalf of Ministers, and those decisions are treated as if the Minister made them.
What is the non-delegation principle?
The non-delegation principle says it’s illegal for a decision-maker to give their power to someone else, as it takes away accountability.
Why is applying the non-delegation principle too strictly problematic?
Ministers can’t make thousands of decisions every day, so civil servants make many of them on their behalf.
What does the Carltona doctrine allow?
The Carltona doctrine lets civil servants use a Minister’s powers, but the Minister is still responsible for those decisions.
What is an example of the Carltona Principle in practice?
An example of the Carltona Principle is how the Department for Work and Pensions handles benefit decisions. Civil servants make the decisions, but the Ministers are still responsible for the results.
What is the significance of the Carltona Ltd v Commissioners of Works [1943] case?
In the 1943 case Carltona Ltd v Commissioners of Works, Lord Greene said ministers have too much work to do it all themselves, so civil servants can do some of it for them.
What is the case R v Adams [2020] UKSC 19 about?
The 2020 case R v Adams is about whether it was legal to jail Gerry Adams in 1973 without a trial, since the order was signed by a junior minister, and whether the Carltona principle allowed that.
What was Lord Kerr’s conclusion in R v Adams?
Lord Kerr decided that the Carltona rule didn’t apply because the law’s wording and the serious consequences of the ICO made it unsuitable for a junior minister to sign.
What factors determine if a Minister must resign?
Things that affect whether a Minister has to resign:
How serious the problem is
Whether the Minister feels embarrassed.
Whether the Prime Minister still supports them.
Pressure from their political party and other MPs.
Pressure from the media.
How does the seriousness of wrongdoing affect a Minister’s resignation?
One small mistake by a civil servant usually doesn’t mean a Minister has to quit — an apology might be enough. But if a Minister lies to Parliament on purpose, that’s serious and they’d normally have to resign.
