PUBLIC LAW

CHAPTER 4
LL.B/Year - 1
University of London

Vindhya Gunawardena
LLB (Hons) (London), LLM (Colombo)
Diploma in Forensic Medicine & Science (Colombo)
Attorney at - Law & Notary Public

Commissioner for Oaths & Company Secretary

 Chapter 4
sponsible government and
accountability
that the Government should be
cCount
ans.

lt is considered important
it should explain its actions,defend then and
able, which means that
where necessary. In the UK, ministers aro collec
respond to criticism
accountable to Parliament and the public
tively and individually
the following:
In this chapter we will look at
the relationship between the Government and Parliament;

the structure of Government;

collective and individual ministerial responsibility;
the distinction between accountability and responsibility;
the ways in which Parliament holds the Government to account;

Note: You will find that an appreciation of current

affairs, derived from newspapers or other news media,
will be particularly useful in helping you understand and
do well in this topic.

4.1 Government and parliament

the Prime
We 3 that it is a conventional rule
Chapter
saw in
that wil
Minister is appointed by the Queen. He or she will be
be the person
an
Mra
who can command a majority ot support "*
of Commons.
The Queen will also appoint other ministers; legaluy
ppoint
whonever she wants as a minister but, by constituto
Prime
inister

vention, she appoints ministers on the advice of the

This pointe
a r e a p p o i n t e d

means that, for all intents and purposes,

by the Prime Minister. ministc conventin t i o n

We also saw in Chapter 3 that it is a constitutional conv

Omnons O n a l

that all ministers must be members of either the the

or the House of Lords. HOU her

 Not This does not mean
that all
also members of the
are not Government; parliamentarians
most MPs and
are
members of the and p s 49
Government, peers

The fact that the Prime Minister

of support in the House of will be the person who has the
eiry of
majority
issues the Government wil
Commons means that on
usually be able to most
rely on the support of
majority of MPs. I use the word
issues over whi
iscIes Over which even the 'usually' because there may be somea
Government's own
it their support. supporters will not give

4.2 The structure of

government
The Government is headed by the Cabinet. This is the
decision-making body of the Government and comprises theprimaryPrime
Minister and other senior ministers. Usually 20-25 ministers make
up
the Cabinet, although its size will vary and its exact composition is a
matter for the Prime Minister.
The Cabinet will normally consist of:

The Prime Minister (who

is also First Lord to the
Treasury and Minister
for the Civil Service)

The Chancellor
|The Chief Whip of the Exchequer

The Cabinet
The Chief Secretary The heads of the
to the Treasury major Departments
of State, known as
(the Chancellor of Secretaries of State
the Exchequer's
no. 2)

of the
The Leaders
Commons and
House of
of Lords
The Lord the House
responsible for getting
Chancellor
the Government's

Secretary of State business through each

for Justice
House)
 meetings at the
Other ministers may
attend Cabinet

o r on an ad hoc basis.
request of the
50 either regularly
Prime Minister,
of government in the UK taba
kes place
ln the main, the work
At the time of writi
through
Governmental departments.
G o v e r n m e n t are:
writing, the
the
departments that compose

Dept. for Dept. for Dept. for Home Northern

Attorney Wales Communities Culture, Office Ireland
Business,
General'sOffice and Local Media and Office
Innovation
Office and Skills Government Sport
Dept. for
Office of the|
Leader of
Environment,
Food and
the House
of Lords
Rural Affairs
Office of the
Dept. for Advocate
Work and General for
Pensions Scotland
Structure of
the UK
Dept. for Dept. for
Government
Transport Energy and
Climate
Dept. for Change
Education
Office of the
Dept. for Leader of
International the House of
Commons
Development
Foreign and Ministry
Ministry
of Cabinet Scotland Commonwealth Dept. of HM of
Justice Office Office Office Health Treasury |Defence

These departments will usually be headed by a minister, commonly

a Secretary of State, who will have under him or her junior ministers.
For instance, at the time of writing, the structure of the Ministry ot

Justice is as follows:

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Chris Grayling MP
Lord Chancellor and
Secretary of State for Justice

Lord McNally Damian Green MP

Minister of State Minister of State

Helen Grant MP Jeremy Wright MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
 Furthermore, each department will be responsible for a number of
51
specifc tasks. So, looking again at the Ministry of Justice, its respons
ibilities include:
the administration of the justice system, including funding the work
of the courts and the appointment of judges;

the administration of Legal Aid

sentencing policy;
the administration of prisons;
probatioon;
youth justice.

4.2.1 The Civil Service

The Civil Service is the permanent, non-political part of the
Government.

Civil service

Permanent Non-political

The Civil Service the administrative, managerial and

provides
technical support that the government needs to pursue its policies.

Civil servants are impartial: they political appointees and

are not

of its politics. The

are expected to serve an administration regardless
from engaging in
corollary of this is that civil servants are prohibited
work that is political in nature.
Communications Officer
To illustrate, a civil servant employed as
within a department may be expected to
inform the press of the work
of that department but should not make party political points.
appointments. That is, civil
servants
Civil servants are permanent
if the party in Government changes. S0, tor
will remain in office even
government, there will
example, if the Labour Party forms the next
Members of the Civil
be a cull of members of the Civil Service.
not government and
ervice remain in office when there is a change of
as the previous one.
wIll serve the new administration as effectively

The Ciuil Service Code sets out the standards

that all civil servants
are expected to uphold, including standards of integrity, honesty,
objectivity and impartiality.
Civil servants are accountable to ministers.
52 4.2.2 Special advisers
Ministers may also appoint special advisers to help them achieve their
political objectives. Special advisers are appointed on Civil Service
terms but, unlike civil servants, they are temporary political appoine.
ees. They are not impartial; rather, they provide ministers with
polit.
ical advice and will often leave office with the minister or if there is
a a

change in government.
The role of special advisers is regulated by the Code of Conduct
for
Special Advisers, which sets out the type of work they may undertake
and their relationship with the Civil Service.

4.2.3 Next Steps Agencies

Next Steps Agencies are sometimes referred to as
Agencies. They are used for the delivery of many government serv.
Arm's-Length
ices. There various types,
are
operating in various ways, each having a
different relationship with the political, central
government.
It will commonly be the case that the relevant
ment draws up the
government depart-
policy it wishes to pursue in a particular area and
the Next Steps Agency is
responsible for implementing that policy.
The agency will draft a number of
performance targets that are
subject to ministerial approval. These are targets that the usuallyin
agency
question proposes to meet.
An example of a Next
Steps Agency is the National Offender
Management Service, which includes the Prison Service. This is an
agency of the
Ministry of Justice. In simple terms, the Secretary ot
State for Justice and the Minister
for Prisons are
the policy that the
agency should
responsible for setting
pursue but the agency, headed bya
Director-General, is responsible for the
service. day-to-day running
of the
The rationale behind such
a
system is that removing
from the day-to-day control of
the service will government
it more effhcient. depoliticise it and make

4.3 Ministerial responsibility

There are two
constitutional conventions that
tion of ministerial responsibility and compose the conven
that help to ensure
the UK is accountable:
collective responsibility andgovernment
in
ministerial responsibility. individuat
These two conventions
and it is important that are very
you understand them in order to
signihicant
the way in which understana
government in the UK operates.
 4.3.1 lective responsibility
53
The conve, ention of collective responsibility means
The that all Ministers in the
vernment must accept responsibility for the
policies,
gons of the government, they did not personally decisions,
actions o f even if and
them, and even f they personally disagree with them.' develop or take
(Tomkins, A., Public Law, 2003, Oxford: Oxford
University
Press)
ollective responsibility binds the individual
Co
members of the govern-
ment together
so that they
present a united face to Parliament and
the public.
Ir is sometimes said the convention of collective
ade of three parts: the
responsibility is
mac up unanimity rule, the confidentiality rule
and the conhdence rule.

Collective
responsibility

Unanimity Confidentiality Confidence

rule rule rule

We will look at each of these three aspects of collective responsib-

ility in turn.

4.3.1.1 Unanimity rule

he main aspect of collective responsibility is the
unanimity rule,
which stipulates that all members of the Government (i.e. all minis-
ters) must publicly support and be bound by Government policy as
red in Cabinet or one of its committees. If a minister feels that he
Oshe cannot publicly support Government policy then they must

resign.
For
*example, in 2003 Robin Cook, a member of Tony Blair's Gov-
Dent, decided that he could not agree with the Government's
com and
tment to pursue military action against Iraq so resigned
from the Government.
It is
tho that the principle of unanimity developed in the seven-

od front eighteenth centuries as way a of ministers presenting a

united t
n t to the monarch, who at that time would exercise personal
political power and who might want to exploit divisions in
s in Govern
ment, among ministers,
for his Own ends. This is no longer
in the modern age but unanimity has other adu necessar
ecessary
Government.
advantages for
First, unanimity is obviously politically advantageous for th
power because any public divistion among ministers would be nod
be used by
the opposition parties to undermine the Government,
lan Loveland states that collective responsibility
lity preserv
preserves conh
dence in the Government and helps prevent unwanted econom or
political consequences:
The contemporary argument suggests the rule is needed to maintst
public and business confidence in the unity and purpose of government
ntain
It is that public Cabinet divisions Would trigger such dire con.
alleged
sequences as reduced investment from Overseas, a run on the pound, or
various other forms of economic or political instability."
(Loveland, I., Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Human
Rights: A Critical Introduction, 6th edn, 2012, Oxford: Oxford
University Press)

Workpoint
What benefits do you think the principle of collective responsibility
brings?

Collective responsibility has been suspended on a number o

occasions.

I t was suspended by the Prime Minister, Ramsey Macdonald, in tne

1931-1932 government. There opposing views about
were e
nomic policy and, in order to prevent the resignation of tour
members of his Cabinet, Mr Macdonald allowed them to expic
their views publicly.
In 1975 Harold Wilson's Government was split as to con 2ued
membership of the EEC. The matter of the UK's continued nu em-

bership was to be put to a referendum. The Prime Minister

pended the convention of collective responsibility over this m
allow members of the
to
of the Cabinet to speak on either sideo
debate.
ay be
The rule is usually formulated in a way that recognises that
suspended. For example, the Cabinet Manual states:
 e n t ministers are bound by the collective decisions of Cabinet
Allgo is explicitly set aside.
55
where it
S a v e

(The Cabinet Offhce (2011) The Cahinet Manual)

W o r k p o i n t

defined constitutional conventions as non-legal

Chapter3
In dina rules.
binding rules. Can it really be said that collective responsibility is such
it it
rule if it can be set aside by the Prime Minister when it is
binding
binding
politically convenient?

43.1.2 Confidentiality rule

contdentiality requires that discussions among ministers,
rule
The
or in ministerial committees, concerning
the formula-
either in Cabinet
should remain confidential. The
rationale
policy,
rion of government and so
convention is that ministers will speak freely,
underlying this views will not be
better decisions, if they are confident that their
reach for minister to conform to the
it would be difficult a
made public. Also,
to publicly support government
policy if it became -

unanimity rule -

formulation.
that policy during its
inown that he or she oPposed the
Ministerial Code produced by
edition of the
The current
taking office states:
-

Government on
set
save where it is explicitly
responsibility,
The principle of collective views frankly
Ministers should be able to expres their
aside, requires that in private while maintaining
can argue freely
n the expectation that they in turn requires
decisions have been reached. This
united front when in Cabinet and
Ministerial Commit-
a r the privacy of opinions
expressed
maintained.
should be
e5, induding in correspondence, Ministerial Code, section 2.1)
(2010)
(The Cabinet Office

Case:
to
Government sought an injuction
Facts: The
Attorney- of the diaries of
an ex-minister,

General v prevent publication on the

discussions
within government,
Jonathan Cape
athan Cape detailing
this would
breach the
constitutional

Ltd[1976] QB grounds that

Convention of confidentiality.
752 could give rise to
a legally
convention this
Held: The
confidentiality
but that, in
enforceable duty of nature of the
confidential
the time.
particular case, of
the passage
erased by
diaries had been
 One may question how much the confidentiality rule is adhered to in
56 in
practice. For instance, there are often leaks to the press about differ
ent opinions or positions taken by ministers in Cabinet or Govern.
ment more generaly.
Moreover, it is becoming more common for ministers, includina
the Prime Minister, to publish diaries or memoirs detailing their time
in office. Ministers are free to do this so long as the publication does
not contravene national security, harm relations with other nations or
breach the confidentiality rule (though these diaries often describe
the positions taken by different members of the Government). All
ministers are required to submit such publications to the Cabinet Sec-
retary, who will examine it and advise the author about these matters
It is sometimes suggested that the unanimity rule and the confiden
tiality rule represent an ideal of collegiate government where minis-
ters are able to agree to a position because it has been openly and
freely debated with everyone having the opportunity to air their
views. However, this ideal probably has little connection with the
reality of modern government. The evidence is that many decisions in
modern governments are taken by Prime Minister along with a small
group of advisers and are presented to the other members of the Gov
ernment as a fait accompli that they must either accept or resign.

4.3.1.3 Confidence rule

Collective responsibility also means that the Government should
have the confidence of the House of Commons and
that it should
resign if this is not the case. In 1979 the Labour Government, headed
by James Callaghan, resigned after losing a confidence vote in the
House of Commons by one vote. This was the catalyst for the 1919
General Election that brought the Conservative
Government unde
Margaret Thatcher to power.
This situation is now largely
regulated by the Fixed-Term Parlia*
ments Act 2011. Under section 2 of
the Act, if the House of Commons
passes a motion stating "That this House has no confidence in Her Mayes
ty's Government' and then does not
rectify this with motion
That this House has confidence in Her statins&
a

Majesty's Govemment', passecu

within 14 days of the first motion, there will be a
General Election.
In addition, the Cabinet Manual states:
The Prime Minister is expected to
resign where it is clear that he or s
does not have the confidence of the House of
Commons and that d
alternative government does have the confidence.'
(The Cabinet Office (2011) The Cabinet Manua )
Taken together, this means that if
no
rOnide the Gove
nfhdence in the the mmons pass
allow someone else ne
else to Government, the
to form a Prime a motion of
to
the confidence.vernment iifGovernment Minister
r should resign
an command fidence
of the
House of
it is
clear that they
57
the new Government can be
in of the
in
the first motion of no
Common. Confidence
conhrmed
by a
14 days
14 Commons
Minister can regain the confidence. However, if the
vote within
r irmed by a Commons vote, then confdence of the existing
Prime Minister. there needCommons,
not be a
and this
change in
This also means hat the confidence
rule is partly
(section 2 of the Fixed-Term regulated byby law
Parliaments Act 2011)regulated
convention. and partly by

4.3.2 Individual ministerial

responsibility
Ministers are individually accountable Parliament and the public
to
for their own behaviour and tor the actions of their departments and
civil servants. While this rule is easy to state in the abstract, it is often
difficult to ascertain what it requires in practice. This is for a number
of reasons:
Accountability is often distinguished from responsibility, though it
is not always easy to identify where one ends and the other begins.
individual min-
There is a lack of clarity about the degree to which
lite.
1sterial responsibility governs a minister's private
ministerial responsib
When there has been a breach of individual will
to predict what the consequences
it is not always easy not. Much
ty, minister should resigrn or
whether the
De: for instance, other political and non-political
factors,

ETe will depend on

including: to the minister by the Prime Minister,

of support given
egree members; and
ministerial colleagues
and party the story -
a min-
DIs media are dealing
with
day
in which the high-profile criticism
e way is subject to than one

finds he o r she
oftice
remain in
who difficult to
after
day will find it m o r e
who is not. ministerial

exanples
examples
of
w
weel
lll-
-kkn
noow
wnn ministerial

three Affair; the

vorthwhile consid
sidering
considering
Crichel
Down Falkland

the of the
Tesp
sponsibility from
esponsib the past:
Argentine
invasion

breach
ofsecurity
ity at

signations Decause
becaus of the following
the

lstands; and the lack off ro

resignation

Buckingham Palace
Crichel Down
in the 1950s. It concerned
The Crichel Down Affair
arose

had been acquired by the Government for military purposes t land that
the outbreak of the Second World War. The Ministry of Agri
refused to resell the land back to its original owners in breach of Culture
ances given when it was acquired. The Minister of Agricultureassur
Thomas Dugdale, resigned because of the failings of his civil of his Sir
civil ser
in the matter.

The Falklands imvasion

In 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands. The Foreie
Secretary, Lord Carrington, resigned because the Foreign Office had Foreign
ad
not suficiently appreciated the threat posed by Argentina.

Palace securitry
In 1982, an intruder managed to evade security at Buckingham Palace
and enter the Queen's bedroom while she was there. William
Whitelaw considered resigning as Home Secretary but was persuaded
not to by the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
These examples illustrate some of the uncertainty of individual
ministerial responsibility. It is perhaps reasonable that Whitelaw did
not resign over the breach of
palace security because he was probably
not directdy at fault. Yet, in 1954, Dugdale felt the need to resign even
though he was unaware of the actions of his civil servants with regard
to Crichel Down. Today, as we shall see, ministers are not expected to
resign over matters for which they are not personally to blame.
The current advice with regard to ministers' responsibility is given
in the Ministerial Code; among other things, the Code states that
individual ministerial responsibility requires ministers to:
be accountable to Parliament for the policies, ns
actions and dec
of their department and of
any Next Steps Agencies;
be truthful and as open as possible with Parliament and the blic:

ensure that no conflict arises between their public duties anp rivate

interests

what 1s ineant by accountability? We can take guiclance fiom the ue

inition given by the Public Service
Committee:
has
Ministers owe a fundamental duty to account to
Parliament.
essentially, two
meanings. First,that the executive is
account oDigeuans
to provide full information about and explain its d in
Parliament sothat they are
Secoond, a Minister's
duty to
subjec to proper democra
le account to
tive is liable to be
tive be heB
held to account: Parliament Parliamen
ic scrutiny..
cisms raised in Parliament about
it must means that the
its respond
actions because to concerns andexecu
ae
aree democratically-e -elected representatives Members criti-
of Parliament
ffective performance of his
effe of the
dence of the House of
functions depends people. A
Minister's
Commons (or the on his
ters sit in the upper House of Lords,having the confi
ouse). Minister has to
A for those Minis-
direct the work of his conduct himself, and
department in a
retains the confidence.both of his own manner likely to ensure that
party and of the House. he
(Public Service Committee,
Ministerial
Responsibility (1995-1996 HCAccountability and
313) para. 32)
That is, accountability means that ministers
should explain, defend
and give information about the actions of their
means that they are expected to departments. It also
respond to concerns raised by Parlia-
ment and conduct themselves in a way that retains the confidence of
Parliament.

Ministers' duty to
account to Parliament

Respond to criticismm
Explain, defend and and act in a way
give information that preserves the
about the action of confidence of the
Government to Commons or the Lords

Parliament as the case may be)

in two ways.
occurs
Parliamernt primarily
Countability to
the House ofLords
House of
Commons and
e Chambers of the defend the
G o v e r n m e n t ' s

and main
to explain One of the
isters are expected
House of
Parliament.

question
time.
each
actions o r of
ministerial

on the Time
is duringM i n i s t e r ' s Question

ways in which this will

occur

Prime questions
in
of a n s w e r s

Most readers will be

aware

Caders Prime
Minister
actions
or deci
the Government's
time
re, on esdays,
Wednesc the question
about also a
there is of that
the Hou m m o n s

fact
that
the
m i n i s t e r s

the and
k n o w n is
sions. Less w
well
ell
kn
whereby
about
the
policies

for each*ogove
department

P a r l i a m e n t

O v e r n m e n t

in
department
t ans
q u e s t i o n s

answer

actions of their department

 Ministers will also explain and defend Government policies
60
during debates and the passing oflegislation.

b) Select committees
The work of select committees takes place outside of the chambers
of the Commons and the Lords. There are different types of select
committees, including:
1) ad hoc select committees, which may investigate and report on
particular issues; these are less common nowadays;
2) regular or permanent select committees, such as the Public
Accounts Committee, which regularly deal with specific
matters;
3) departmental select committees, which are creatures of the
House of Commons and which investigate the work undertaken
by particular government departments.
Select committees can question ministers and civil servants in
more depth than would otherwise be possible. They may also take
evidence from other interest groups including academics, business
representatives and members of the public.
Departmental select committees issue annual and special reports
that may be debated in the House of Commons.

In addition to Parliament, ministers often accountable to the

are
public more directly via the news media. The importance of the
in holding the press
government to account is widely recognised as
tial to a healthy
democracy and there are many instances whereessen
the
press has uncovered governmental or ofhcial
wrongdoing.
Workpoint
Can you think of any instances
where the press has been
instrumental in uncovering
governmental or official wrongdoing?

4.3.2.1 Accountability or responsibility?

A distincrion is often
drawn between
accountability and Tesponsibiliry.
Accountability is taken to mean that ministers are under a
explainand defend their duty to
decisions or actions and those of their
department its agencies.
and

Responsibility is taken to mean those things for which the

may personally take credit or blame. minister
It will be seen that according to this, the obligation of accountability 61
is much wider than that of responsibility.

Individual ministerial
responsibility

Accountability Responsibility
The Minister is accountable The Minister is responsible
for everything done by only for those things for
his or her Department, which he or she is
its civil servants and personally to blame
its agencies

This division between responsibility and accountability seems

appropriate given the size and complexity of modern government. It
would not seem reasonable to expect a minister to personally take the
blame for things they did not know about and could not possibly have
known about.
However, it is not possible to draw an absolute distinction between
the things for which the minister is responsible and one for which he
or she is accountable. This has been recognised by the Public Service
Committee:
It is not possible absolutely to distinguish an area in which a Minister is

personally responsible, and liable to take blame, from one in which he is

not composed of
Constitutionally accountable. Ministerial responsibility is
Ministers have an obli-
two elements with a clear break between the two.
that government explains
gation to Parliament which consists in ensuring
criticism made
its actions. Ministers also have an obligation to respond to
which may include,
in Parliament in a way that seems likely to satisty it
-

ifnecessary, resignation.' and

(Public Service Committee, Ministerial Accountability
Responsibility, 1995-1996 HC 313, para 21)

For example, if there were an escape of prisoners from a particular

might argue that, while they areunder a

prison the relevant minister
they are not
for what has gone wrong, responsible for
duty to account
the day-to-day running of prisons. Yet the distinction between
may be ditfhcult to maintain if it
accountability and responsibility
became apparent that the escape is the direct result of the minister's
policies, perhaps because he or she has underfunded the Prison
Service with the result that individual prison governors cannot
adequately staff their institutions.
4.3.2.2 Personal issues
in a minister's personal life are rel
One question is whether issues
The general view is that
evant to individual ministerial responsibility.

So, for instance, if a minister is found to be having an

they are not.
considered to be a private
extramarital affair, then this is generally
minister's public role.
matter that does not affect the
for example, a minister's
There may be exceptions to this where,
conflict with their public duties or is an
private conduct gives rise to a
because of a risk of blackmail).
issue of national security (perhaps
to resign as a result of private
Moreover, a minister may be forced
the Government though this
conduct if it becomes embarrassing for
-

to be a matter of political expedience

rather than
might be thought
demanded by ministerial responsibility.

4.3.2.3 The purpose of individual ministerial

responsibility
There are a number of rationales for individual ministerial responsib-
ility, including:
I t is part of a healthy democracy that those in government explain and
defend their decisions to the public via Parliament and, if necessary,
that they take remedial action in response to valid criticisms.
I t helps to ensure fitness for public office by making sure that minis-
ters are trustworthy, honest, irncorruptible and act with integrity.
I t helps to maintain the impartiality ofthe Civil Service by making
ministers, rather than civil servants, politically accountable for the
actions of government.

4.3.3 Ministerial responsibility: overview

Diagrammatically, and as a whole, ministerial responsibility looks like
this:

Ministerial
Responsibility

Collective Individual
ministerial
responsibility
responsibility

Unanimity Accountable for Responsible

Confidentiality everything done for own
Responsibility in Department conduct only
 Perhaps the important question with regard to ministerial
most
6
both collective and individual is whether the -

responsibility -

have in place are as effective as they could be

to
systems that we
accountable and responsible government. This is
ensure that we have

something over which people may legitimately disagree. However, we

should note the following.

Parliament's hold the Government to account may be

ability to
r e s o u r c e s . It may also be hampered by
limited by a lack of time and
Parliament is a body largely
controlled by the Govern-
the fact that
in the
Government has a majority of support
ment (because the
House of Commons).
is not
The distinction between accountability and responsibility
ministers to
always clear and this lack of clarity may be used by
e v e n when they
are culpable.
escape responsibility
to deliver some government serv
The use of Next Steps Agencies easy to
those services, it is not
ices can mean that, with respect to
minister should be held
distinguish the matters for which a
clearly accountable.
from those for which he or she is merely
responsible

Checkpoint - Responsible
government and accountability
Done!
Item on checklist:

have accountable
I can explain why it is desirable to
government.

Government will usually have the

Ican explain why the Commons.
of MPs in the House of
support of the majority
of the Cabinet.
a brief description
I can give
including what is
meant
Service
the Civil
I can describe the impartial,
that the Civil Senvice is
when it is said
permanent part
of government.
are.
Tknow what
Next Steps Agencies
describe:
responsibility, I can
collective
With regard to

the unanimity rule

the confidentiality rule
t h e confidence rule.
******

64 Checkpoint Responsible
government and accountability
Item on checklist: Done!

Iknow the meaning of accountability arnd can explain the

difference between accountability and responsibility.

I can explain the ways in which Parliament holds the

Government to account.

I can explain why the ways in which the Government is

held to account may be less than fully effective.

Research Point
Review the newspapers over the
past 18 months or so. Have there
been any ministerial
resignations? Did those resignations involve issues
of collective or individual
responsibility and, if so, what were they?

Research Point
Read the following article:
Brazier, R. It Is a Constitutional Issue:
Fitness for Ministerial Office in
the 1990s [1994] Public
What solutions does Brazier Law 431.
fit for office? Are his suggest to make
sure that ministers are
solutions workable?

Research Point
Watch a video of the famous 1997
Secretary Michael Howard by interview of the then Home
find this on the Internet Jeremy Paxman (you should be able to
Why do you think Mr Howardusinga search engine).
had such an
interview? What issues of awkward time in the
ministerial
responsibility were at issue?
Potential exam question
How do the
conventions
vidual ministerial of
collective
government responsibility attempt
responsibility
to
and indt
in the UK? secure
accountab