Appendix 2—Government Response to
the Committee's Ninth Report of Session
2009-10
Too Many Ministers?
1. The ever-upward trend in the size of government
over the last hundred years or more is striking and hard to justify
objectively in the context of the end of Empire, privatisation,
and, most recently, devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland. There is a strong case for re-examining the number of
government ministers that the country needs, as well as the statutory
limits on these numbers that currently exist. (Paragraph 5)
2. There may be a need for a new piece of
legislation, consolidating the relevant provisions in the Ministerial
and Other Salaries Act and the House of Commons Disqualification
Act and attempting to close those loopholes which Prime Ministers
have exploited over the years. The limits on ministerial numbers
should not be seen as a target to be met, or even exceeded. (Paragraph
9)
3. Decisions on the number of ministers should
be led by practical need, not political reward. There is a growing
consensus that the ever increasing number of ministers harms the
effectiveness of government. (Paragraph 15)
4. Ministers' role is to take key decisions,
account to Parliament for them and conduct discussions at the
highest level. Some junior ministerial roles appear to fall far
short of this. Civil servants should not be put in the position
of 'making work' for ministers. Not only is this costly and inefficient
but it devalues the role of ministers. (Paragraph 18)
5. The appointment of unpaid ministers is
a way in which a Prime Minister can increase the total number
of ministers in his government without exceeding the statutory
limits on the number of paid ministers. However, unpaid ministers
still bring with them a significant cost to the public purse.
Moreover, relying on ministers to take unpaid positions brings
with it an incentive to favour those who are independently wealthy.
The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 should be treated
as setting an absolute limit on the number of government ministers,
paid or unpaid. (Paragraph 19)
6. It would be better for government, for
the public purse and for ministers themselves if the number of
ministers were reduced, possibly by as much as one third. Cutting
the number of ministers would also be consistent with smaller,
smarter government. (Paragraph 21)
The Government welcomes the Committee's interest
in these issues. The Committee will have seen the appointments
made by the Coalition Government. The Government agrees that the
number of ministers should be dictated by need and on this basis
has carefully considered all the appointments that it has made.
Because of the nature of Coalition Government and the challenge
of delivering the Programme for Government, the Prime Minister
did not think that it was possible to reduce significantly the
number of ministers at this time.
In addition, this Government has reduced the number
of ministers who regularly attend meetings of the Cabinet, as
well as putting in place more formal government structures.
7. The ever increasing size of the payroll
vote should be addressed as a matter of urgency. We recommend
that the Ministerial Code be amended to limit Parliamentary Private
Secretaries to one for each department or Cabinet Minister. The
posts of Parliamentary Assistants to Regional Ministers should
be abolished. (Paragraph 33)
9. The House of Commons Disqualification Act
was intended to prevent government from stacking the legislature
with its own office holders. The existence of large numbers of
Parliamentary Private Secretaries and other unofficial office
holders undermines this principle. The existing limit on the number
of ministers sitting and voting in the Commons needs to be widened
to encompass all of those Members of Parliament who hold office
connected to the Government, whether formally or informally. A
logical basis on which to establish this limit would be as a proportion
of the total membership of the Commons. A limit of around 15 per
cent, mid-way between that recommended by the Herbert Committee
and the present position, would result in a reduction in the current
payroll vote of around 40 posts.
In line with the Ministerial Code, Cabinet
Ministers and Ministers of State may appoint Parliamentary Private
Secretaries with the prior written approval of the Prime Minister.
The role of Parliamentary Assistants to Regional Ministers has
been abolished.
8. There is a significant lack of clarity
around the status of Members of Parliament acting as special envoys
or representatives for the Prime Minister or in other government
advisory roles. The suspicion is that these are a way of extending
patronage to people who have not been chosen for ministerial office.
There should be more transparency about their role, their cost,
and the civil service support they receive, if any. It should
be clear that no person would lose such a position for voting
against the Government. (Paragraph 34)
This issue is covered in the Government's response
to the Committee's report on Goats and Tsars.
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