APPENDIX 3
MINISTERIAL CODE
Section 1
1. MINISTERS
OF THE
CROWN
1. Ministers of the Crown are expected to
behave according to the highest standards of constitutional and
personal conduct in the performance of their duties. In particular,
they must observe the following principles of Ministerial conduct:
(i) Ministers must uphold the principle of
collective responsibility;
(ii) Ministers have a duty to Parliament
to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions
and actions of their Departments and Next Steps Agencies;
(iii) 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;
(iv) 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 relevant statute and the
Government's Code of Practice and Access to Government Information
(Second Edition, January 1997);
(v) Similarly, Ministers should require civil
servants who give evidence before Parliamentary Committees on
their behalf and under their directions 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 (January 1996);
(vi) Ministers must ensure that no conflict
arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their
private interests;
(vii) Ministers should avoid accepting any
gift or hospitality which might, or might reasonably appear to,
compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation;
(viii) Ministers in the House of Commons
must keep separate their role as Minister and constituency Member;
and
(ix) Ministers must not use resources for
party political purposes. They 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.
These notes detail the arrangements for the
conduct of affairs by Ministers. They are intended to give guidance
by listing the principles and the precedents which may apply.
They apply to all Members of the Government (the position of Parliamentary
Private Secretaries is described separately in section 4). The
notes should be read against the background of the duty of Ministers
to comply with the law, including international law and treaty
obligations, and to uphold the administration of justice, the
general obligations listed above; and in the context of protecting
the integrity of public life. Ministers must also, of course,
adhere at all times to the requirements parliament has itself
laid down. For Ministers in the Commons, these are set by the
Resolution carried on 19 March 1997 (Official Report, columns
1946-47): the terms of the Resolution are repeated at (ii) to
(v) above. For Ministers in the Lords, Official Report
col 1057. It will be for individual Ministers to judge how best
to act in order to uphold the highest standards. They are responsible
for justifying their conduct to Parliament and they can only remain
in office for so long as they retain the Prime Minister's confidence.
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