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Ministerial Code

1. Ministers of the Crown

Ministers of the Crown are expected to behave according to the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct in the performance of their duties.

This 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 drawing on past precedent. It applies to all members of the Government (and covers Parliamentary Private Secretaries in section 4).

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 in Parliament. The Code is not a rulebook, and it is not the role of the Secretary of the Cabinet or other officials to enforce it or to investigate Ministers although they may provide Ministers with private advice on matters which it covers.

Ministers only remain in office for so long as they retain the confidence of the Prime Minister. He is the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a Minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards, although he will not expect to comment on every allegation that is brought to his attention.

The Code should be read against the background of the overarching duty on Ministers to comply with the law, including international law and treaty obligations, to uphold the administration of justice and to protect the integrity of public life. They are expected to observe the Seven Principles of Public Life set out in the first report of the Nolan Committee, repeated in annex A, and the following principles of Ministerial conduct:

  1. Ministers must uphold the principle of collective responsibility;
  2. 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;
  3. 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;
  4. 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 Government’s Code of Practice on Access to Government Information;
  5. Ministers should similarly require civil servants who give evidence before Parliamentary Committees on 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;
  6. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their private interests;
  7. 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;
  8. Ministers in the House of Commons must keep separate their roles as Minister and constituency Member;
  9. Ministers must not use government 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.

Ministers must also comply at all times with the requirements which Parliament itself has laid down. 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 ii. to v. above. For Ministers in the Lords the Resolution can be found in the Official Report of 20 March 1997 column 1057.