Responsible Gov

Question 1

Who is the central executive

Answer 1

Prime Minister & cabinet

Question 2

Who is PM appointed by

Answer 2

Appointed by King (only a formality)
- leader of the political party with the most seats in HoC will become PM

Question 3

Powers of PM

Answer 3

Advising King to appoint or remove Ministers, size and composition of cabinet, policy direction of Gov, when cabinet meets

Question 4

What is Cabinet Office

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Roles within the Cabinet Office

Answer 5

PM is a minister in cabinet
- head of civil service is senior Gov official in cabinet

Question 6

Who is in privy council

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

Privy council responsibilities

Answer 7

• advise monarch on exercising royal prerogative

Question 8

Who is in the cabinet

Answer 8

Body of senior Ministers and headed by PM
- Lord Chancellor
- chief secretary to the treasury
- leader of HoC
(State ministers NOT included)

Question 9

Does Cabinet exist in law or convention only

Answer 9

Convention only

Question 10

What are cabinet committees

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What is COMBR

Answer 11

Cabinet office briefing room
- provides mechanism for agreeing Gov response to emergencies
Eg. Terrorist attack or pandemic

Question 12

Collective ministerial responsibility ideals

Answer 12

• 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)

Question 13

General convention of individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 13

Ministers should accept responsibility and resign for any failures in their department

Question 14

Innovation in individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Ministerial Code 13b & c

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Ministerial Code background

Answer 16

First version published Tony Blair 1997
- sets out principles expected of ministers

Question 17

Ministerial Code 7 principles of public life

Answer 17

Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership

Question 18

What is the ministerial code

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Who does ministerial code apply to

Answer 19

Gov Ministers, some parliamentary private secretaries, some special advisors

Question 20

Consequence of breaching ministerial code

Answer 20

• 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)

Question 21

Evolution of ministerial code

Answer 21

Usually updated when new PM
- nowadays more political so include gov policy
-

Question 22

How does ministerial code codify CMR

Answer 22

‘May argue freely in private while maintaining a United front when a decision has been made’

Question 23

What do we mean when we say ministerial code covers engagement with parliament (most important)

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Ministerial code: conflict of interest codified

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Ministerial Code: moral codes with colleagues

Answer 25

Clauses re treating colleagues with respect
- eg. Dominic Raab resigned after report found him responsible for intimidation and overly aggressive criticism

Question 26

Civil service cabinet Manual definition

Answer 26

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

Question 27

3 constitutional principles for civil service

Answer 27

• permanence (gov does not want to change new personnel with every new PM)
• political neutrality
• anonymity

Question 28

Who may be called to give department evidence to P

Answer 28

• accounting officers
• senior responsible owners
  Both to parliamentary select committees

Question 29

Civil service core values from Civil Service Code

Answer 29

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

Question 30

How can civil servants be held accountable

Answer 30

Dismissal
Being questioned by parliamentary select committee

Question 31

Different types of Parliamentary scrutiny

Answer 31

Select committees & legislative committees (public Bill)

Question 32

Select committees

Answer 32

• 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

Question 33

Who are in select committees

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Committee names & how long does Gov have to respond after the committee summon their evidence and publish their report

Answer 34

• 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

Question 35

Summoning powers of committee

Answer 35

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