Cabinet Responsibility
By Convention, the Cabinet is collectively responsible. The Cabinet is jointly responsible to Parliament. The principle requires members of the government to take a united front and to maintain confidence in Cabinet discussions. If they disagree with a particular matter, they should resign on it, resign and no longer remain in the Cabinet.
Accordingly, Cabinet members should not criticize or claim that they cannot criticize or dissent from a decision in later public discussion.
The principle applies to Cabinet Committees, which may bind the entire Cabinet.
In exceptional circumstances, as with coalition governments, there have been occasional agreements to allow the expression of differing opinions. In 1975, during the Referendum on Membership of the European Community, members of the Cabinet were permitted to lobby on different sides.
The 2010 coalition government saw a relaxation of the principle giving differing views on certain matters.
The Cabinet papers may not be released without the consent of the relevant former Prime Minister. Incoming governments may not access that because of the previous government of a different party. The rationale is to discourage the outgoing government from destroying or removing papers.
The Convention does not apply where the immunity or confidentiality is waived, such as when Ministers and the government make documents public. The principle, in relation to previous governments, does not apply to intergovernmental negotiations.
The Ministerial code prohibits the publication of memos by Ministers still in office. In the case of former Ministers, drafts should be submitted to the Cabinet office for approval prior to publication.
Ministers in charge of a department are solely accountable. Government departments typically comprise a Secretary of State, generally a Cabinet Minister with overall responsibility for the department. Below the Secretary of State are a number of junior Ministers or Ministers of State who are below cabinet level. They are generally responsible for particular aspects of Cabinet work.
The Principal Permanent Private Secretary and a number of Permanent Secretaries are responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of the department. Special advisers may assist the department and drive government agenda and priorities.
The trend of recent decades has been to create, outsource various administration and government functions, formerly undertaken directly by government departments through agencies. The departments would retain a level of responsibility and oversight in respect of agencies defined by the relevant legislation.
Ministers are subject to codes of conduct of Parliament and principles of public life and the ministerial code. The codes require that Ministers uphold the integrity of government and act with the highest degree of propriety. The code provides that Ministers must uphold the principle of collective responsibility, account to Parliament for the policies and decisions of their department and its agencies, ensure no conflict of interest arises, and act with the utmost honesty and integrity and openness in dealings with Parliament.
The Minister represents the department and speaks for it in Parliament. He answers questions during parliamentary question time and during debates on matters relevant to the department. The Minister introduces legislation relevant to the department and steers it through Parliament.
The Civil Service is politically neutral and is generally protected from direct parliamentary scrutiny. Set out separately, legislation, senior officers of agencies, and certain others may be directly accountable to Parliament.
A Minister may be expected to resign for significant departmental failures. A distinction is made between a general failure on the part of the Minister and a failure at senior levels before a Minister would be expected to take responsibility. A distinction is sometimes made between policy and operational matters.
Ministers have resigned for reasons that reflect on their personal integrity and judgment.