Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Margaret Ferrier Excerpts
Thursday 11th June 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Penny Mordaunt Portrait Penny Mordaunt
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It is absolutely vital in every part of our United Kingdom that people follow the advice of our respective chief medical officers. They should do that not because I, the hon. Gentleman, any politician or any adviser asks them to, but because it is the right thing to do to protect our families, our communities and our NHS and to get the economy moving again. I know that the hon. Gentleman is angry, and many people are angry, but that is what we need to focus on and that is the message we need to deliver. I thank everyone in this country who has followed that advice, because they are beating the virus.

Margaret Ferrier Portrait Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)
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What recent assessment he has made of the compliance of Government special advisers with the code of conduct for special advisers.

Alan Brown Portrait Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)
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What recent assessment he has made of the compliance of Government special advisers with the code of conduct for special advisers.

Chloe Smith Portrait The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)
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Paragraph 9 of the code of conduct for special advisers states:

“The responsibility for the management and conduct of special advisers, including discipline, rests with the Minister who made the appointment.”

It is therefore for each appointing Minister to ensure that their special advisers operate within the terms of the code of conduct.

Margaret Ferrier Portrait Margaret Ferrier
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I hope you had a pleasant birthday yesterday, Mr Speaker.

Public health experts have voiced concerns that Dominic Cummings did undermine public trust in lockdown rules, going against the principle of integrity that is in the code of conduct. Will the Cabinet Office conduct an investigation into potential breaches of the code of conduct by Mr Cummings, or have Ministers yet again decided that they have had enough of experts?

Chloe Smith Portrait Chloe Smith
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I am not sure whether the hon. Lady listened to the answer I gave, which was that the responsibility for those decisions rests with the appointing Minister. In this case, that is of course the Prime Minister, who has accepted Mr Cummings’s explanations and has defended that at this Dispatch Box and elsewhere. There is little further to add to that. Of course, if it helps you, Mr Speaker, I can also add that Durham constabulary has said that there is nothing further to do, and the Cabinet Secretary has responded to Opposition Members, including the SNP party leader in this place, to say he is also satisfied.