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Ministerial Code MINISTERIAL CODE CABINET OFFICE August 2019 MINISTERIAL CODE Foreword by The Prime Minister The mission of this Government is to deliver Brexit on 31st October for the purpose of uniting and re-energising our whole United Kingdom and making this country the greatest place on earth. We will seize the opportunities offered by Brexit, investing in education, technology and infrastructure, unlocking the talents of the whole nation and levelling up across our United Kingdom so that no town or community is ever again left behind or forgotten. In doing so, we will make our country the greatest place to invest or set up a business, the greatest place to send your kids to school and the greatest place in the world to live and bring up a family. To fulfil this mission, and win back the trust of the British people, we must uphold the very highest standards of propriety – and this code sets out how we must do so. There must be no bullying and no harassment; no leaking; no breach of collective responsibility. No misuse of taxpayer money and no actual or perceived conflicts of interest. The precious principles of public life enshrined in this document – integrity, objectivity, accountability, transparency, honesty and leadership in the public interest – must be honoured at all times; as must the political impartiality of our much admired civil service. Crucially, there must be no delay - and no misuse of process or procedure by any individual Minister that would seek to stall the collective decisions necessary to deliver Brexit and secure the wider changes needed across our United Kingdom. The time has come to act, to take decisions, and to give strong leadership to change this country for the better. That is what this Government will do. BORIS JOHNSON MINISTERIAL CODE INDEX Section Page 1 MINISTERS OF THE CROWN 1-3 General principle 1 2 MINISTERS AND THE GOVERNMENT 4-6 General principle 4 Cabinet and Ministerial Committee business 4 Collective responsibility 4 Attendance at Cabinet and Cabinet Committees 5 Publication of policy statements and consultation 5 papers Cabinet documents 5 Access by former Ministers to official papers 5 The Law Officers 6 Security of Government Business 6 3 MINISTERS AND APPOINTMENTS 7-9 General principle 7 Special advisers 7 Departmental boards 7 Parliamentary Private Secretaries 8 4 MINISTERS AND THEIR DEPARTMENTS 10-11 General principle 10 Approval criteria 10 Ministers outside the Cabinet 10 Arrangements during absence from London 11 Maternity leave and other extended absence by a 11 Minister Royal Commissions / Public Inquiries 11 5 MINISTERS AND CIVIL SERVANTS 12-13 General principle 12 The role of the Accounting Officer 12 Senior Responsible Owners 13 Former Accounting Officers and Senior 13 Responsible Owners 6 MINISTERS’ CONSTITUENCY AND PARTY 14-15 INTERESTS General principle 14 Use of Government property / resources 14 Constituency interests 14 Lottery bids 15 Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration 15 (Ombudsman) cases 7 MINISTERS’ PRIVATE INTERESTS 16-19 General principle 16 Responsibility for avoiding a conflict 16 Procedure for declaring financial interests 16 Official Residences 17 Public appointments / association with non-Public 17 Bodies Non-Public Bodies 17 Membership of Select Committees / All Party 17 Parliamentary Groups Trade Unions 18 Legal proceedings 18 Nomination for prizes and awards including foreign 18 decorations Acceptance of gifts and hospitality 18 Acceptance of appointments / jobs after leaving 19 ministerial office 8 MINISTERS AND THE PRESENTATION OF POLICY 20-22 General principle 20 Media, interviews, speeches, press articles etc 20 Payment for speeches, media articles etc 21 Books / Memoirs 21 Participation in surveys 21 Publication of White and Consultation papers 21 Complaints 21 Meetings with external organisations 22 Statistics / Pre-Release Access 22 9 MINISTERS AND PARLIAMENT 23 General principle 23 Timing and form of announcement 23 Oral Statements 23 Select Committee Reports 23 10 TRAVEL BY MINISTERS 24-26 General principle 24 Overseas visits 24 Non-scheduled flights 24 Ministers recalled from abroad 25 UK visits 25 Use of official cars 25 Party Political occasions 26 Air miles / loyalty points 26 Travelling expenses of spouses / partners 26 ANNEX A: THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE 27 ANNEX B: THE BUSINESS APPOINTMENT RULES 28 MINISTERIAL CODE 1 MINISTERS OF THE CROWN General 1.1 Ministers of the Crown are expected to maintain principle high standards of behaviour and to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety. 1.2 Ministers should be professional in all their dealings and treat all those with whom they come into contact with consideration and respect. Working relationships, including with civil servants, ministerial and parliamentary colleagues and parliamentary staff should be proper and appropriate. Harassing, bullying or other inappropriate or discriminating behaviour wherever it takes place is not consistent with the Ministerial Code and will not be tolerated. 1.3 The Ministerial Code should be read against the background of the overarching duty on Ministers to comply with the law and to protect the integrity of public life. They are expected to observe the Seven Principles of Public Life set out at Annex A, and the following principles of Ministerial conduct: a. The principle of collective responsibility applies to all Government Ministers; b. Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies; c. It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister; d. Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000; e. Ministers should similarly require civil servants who give evidence before Parliamentary Committees on 1 their behalf and under their direction to be as helpful as possible in providing accurate, truthful and full information in accordance with the duties and responsibilities of civil servants as set out in the Civil Service Code; f. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their private interests; g. Ministers should not accept any gift or hospitality which might, or might reasonably appear to, compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation; h. Ministers in the House of Commons must keep separate their roles as Minister and constituency Member; i. Ministers must not use government resources for Party political purposes; and j. Ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service and not ask civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the Civil Service Code as set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. 1.4 It is not the role of the Cabinet Secretary or other officials to enforce the Code. If there is an allegation about a breach of the Code, and the Prime Minister, having consulted the Cabinet Secretary, feels that it warrants further investigation, he may ask the Cabinet Office to investigate the facts of the case and/or refer the matter to the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests. 1.5 The Code provides guidance to Ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs in order to uphold these standards. It lists the principles which may apply in particular situations. It applies to all members of the Government and covers Parliamentary Private Secretaries in paragraphs 3.7 – 3.12. 1.6 Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Code and for justifying their actions and conduct to Parliament and the public. However, Ministers only remain in office for so long as they retain the confidence of the Prime Minister. He is the ultimate 2 judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a Minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards. 1.7 Ministers must also comply at all times with the requirements which Parliament itself has laid down in relation to the accountability and responsibility of Ministers. For Ministers in the Commons, these are set by the Resolution carried on 19 March 1997 (Official Report columns 1046-47), the terms of which are repeated at b. to e. above. For Ministers in the Lords, the Resolution can be found in the Official Report of 20 March 1997 column 1057. Ministers must also comply with the Codes of Conduct for their respective Houses and also any requirements placed on them by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. 3 2 MINISTERS AND THE GOVERNMENT General 2.1 The principle of collective responsibility requires principle that Ministers should be able to express their views frankly in the expectation that they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front when decisions have been reached. This in turn requires that the privacy of opinions expressed in Cabinet and Ministerial Committees, including in correspondence, should be maintained. Cabinet and 2.2 The business of the Cabinet and Ministerial Committees Ministerial consists in the main of: Committee business a. questions which significantly engage the collective responsibility of the Government because they raise major issues of policy or because they are of critical importance to the public; b. questions on which there is an unresolved argument between departments. Collective 2.3 The internal process through which a decision has been responsibility made, or the level of Committee by which it was taken should not be disclosed. Neither should the individual views of Ministers or advice provided by civil servants as part of that internal process be disclosed.
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