The Concept of Ministerial
Responsibility
Individual Ministerial Responsibility
Cabinet ministers are accountable to parliament for the policies of their department, the
conduct of their department, and their own personal conduct.
If there are failings in their department that are not directly due to their own decisions but
those of civil servants, then a minister needs to inform Parliament but does not have to resign.
Government departments are very large and cabinet ministers are not experts, so arguably it is
unreasonable for them to be aware of all wrongdoing and it is down to expert civil servants to
use their specialisms to make informed and correct decisions.
Individual ministerial responsibility has become convoluted in the last 2 decades since the major
rise of Executive Agencies, which now employ 50% of all UK civil servants and are overseen by a
department. Failings within executive agencies may be the head of that agency’s responsibility
and therefore they would be accountable as opposed to the cabinet minister.
If a minister knowingly misleads Parliament, they should resign by convention.
In 2018, Amber Rudd resigned for "inadvertently misleading” parliament (a select committee)
over her target to remove illegal immigrants.
Priti Patel’s guilty verdict of bullying, 2020, led to a £340,000 payout to the top civil servant, Sir
Phillip Rutnam, who accused her. Sir Alex Allen concluded from the enquiry that Patel had “not
consistently met the high standards required by the Ministerial Code of treating her civil
servants with consideration and respect”. Despite breaching the Ministerial Code, the
judgement was that no-one informed her of the impact of her behaviour, and so was
unintentional. Johnson said he continued to have “full confidence” in her and she didn’t resign.
Possible Reasons for Ministers’ Resigning
Misleading Parliament- Amber Rudd (2018) and Damien Green (2017)
Mistakes made within their department, although this is normally blamed on civil servants and
the minister survives
Failures in their policies- Ministers may alternatively be moved in a cabinet reshuffle e.g. Gavin
Williamson
Personal Misconduct- Priti Patel (2017) for unsanctioned meetings with Israel, and Michael
Fallon (2017) for sexual misconduct
Political Pressure- largely linked to personal misconduct e.g. Matt Hancock (2021)
Disagreements with the Prime Minister- Sir Alan Duncan, Anne Milton, David Gauke, Phillip
Hammond and Rory Stewart all resigned when Johnson was appointed PM
Collective Ministerial Responsibility
Ministers must support all government decisions publicly, even if they don’t approve or disagree
with decisions privately.
Responsibility
Individual Ministerial Responsibility
Cabinet ministers are accountable to parliament for the policies of their department, the
conduct of their department, and their own personal conduct.
If there are failings in their department that are not directly due to their own decisions but
those of civil servants, then a minister needs to inform Parliament but does not have to resign.
Government departments are very large and cabinet ministers are not experts, so arguably it is
unreasonable for them to be aware of all wrongdoing and it is down to expert civil servants to
use their specialisms to make informed and correct decisions.
Individual ministerial responsibility has become convoluted in the last 2 decades since the major
rise of Executive Agencies, which now employ 50% of all UK civil servants and are overseen by a
department. Failings within executive agencies may be the head of that agency’s responsibility
and therefore they would be accountable as opposed to the cabinet minister.
If a minister knowingly misleads Parliament, they should resign by convention.
In 2018, Amber Rudd resigned for "inadvertently misleading” parliament (a select committee)
over her target to remove illegal immigrants.
Priti Patel’s guilty verdict of bullying, 2020, led to a £340,000 payout to the top civil servant, Sir
Phillip Rutnam, who accused her. Sir Alex Allen concluded from the enquiry that Patel had “not
consistently met the high standards required by the Ministerial Code of treating her civil
servants with consideration and respect”. Despite breaching the Ministerial Code, the
judgement was that no-one informed her of the impact of her behaviour, and so was
unintentional. Johnson said he continued to have “full confidence” in her and she didn’t resign.
Possible Reasons for Ministers’ Resigning
Misleading Parliament- Amber Rudd (2018) and Damien Green (2017)
Mistakes made within their department, although this is normally blamed on civil servants and
the minister survives
Failures in their policies- Ministers may alternatively be moved in a cabinet reshuffle e.g. Gavin
Williamson
Personal Misconduct- Priti Patel (2017) for unsanctioned meetings with Israel, and Michael
Fallon (2017) for sexual misconduct
Political Pressure- largely linked to personal misconduct e.g. Matt Hancock (2021)
Disagreements with the Prime Minister- Sir Alan Duncan, Anne Milton, David Gauke, Phillip
Hammond and Rory Stewart all resigned when Johnson was appointed PM
Collective Ministerial Responsibility
Ministers must support all government decisions publicly, even if they don’t approve or disagree
with decisions privately.
