Asked by: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made towards drawing up a new code of practice for direct ministerial appointments, as recommended by Nigel Boardman.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the Hon Member to HCWS500.
The Government has set out that a policy statement in response to the Upholding Standards in Public Life Report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the review into the development and use of Supply Chain Finance in government by Nigel Boardman will be published in due course.
Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements in their departments in line with legislation, the relevant Codes of Conduct and requirements of Managing Public Money. They are supported by legal, HR and finance professionals in discharging these obligations. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury provide a coordination role across such functions and can provide advice and guidance in specific cases.
Direct Ministerial appointments reflect the successive practice of administrations in engaging eminent individuals to provide independent views and advice to Government on specific areas. Such appointments should, by nature, be flexible to the circumstances of the situation and in line with wider public law duties. Appointments are made by Ministers. Appointees must abide by the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and should ensure that any relevant interests are declared to the Senior Civil Servant sponsoring their work to ensure that no actual or reasonably perceived conflicts arise.
Departments are responsible for their own transparency releases as they hold the information required to generate them and must take steps to ensure the accuracy of the information. The Cabinet Office provides central guidance to ensure consistency of information.
Asked by: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to (a) collate all departmental transparency releases and (b) publish those releases in an accessible, centrally managed and searchable database with transparency returns published monthly, as recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the Hon Member to HCWS500.
The Government has set out that a policy statement in response to the Upholding Standards in Public Life Report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the review into the development and use of Supply Chain Finance in government by Nigel Boardman will be published in due course.
Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements in their departments in line with legislation, the relevant Codes of Conduct and requirements of Managing Public Money. They are supported by legal, HR and finance professionals in discharging these obligations. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury provide a coordination role across such functions and can provide advice and guidance in specific cases.
Direct Ministerial appointments reflect the successive practice of administrations in engaging eminent individuals to provide independent views and advice to Government on specific areas. Such appointments should, by nature, be flexible to the circumstances of the situation and in line with wider public law duties. Appointments are made by Ministers. Appointees must abide by the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and should ensure that any relevant interests are declared to the Senior Civil Servant sponsoring their work to ensure that no actual or reasonably perceived conflicts arise.
Departments are responsible for their own transparency releases as they hold the information required to generate them and must take steps to ensure the accuracy of the information. The Cabinet Office provides central guidance to ensure consistency of information.
Asked by: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to set up a centrally coordinated, cross-government compliance function for ensuring compliance with governance processes and the wider regulatory framework as recommended by Nigel Boardman.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the Hon Member to HCWS500.
The Government has set out that a policy statement in response to the Upholding Standards in Public Life Report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the review into the development and use of Supply Chain Finance in government by Nigel Boardman will be published in due course.
Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements in their departments in line with legislation, the relevant Codes of Conduct and requirements of Managing Public Money. They are supported by legal, HR and finance professionals in discharging these obligations. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury provide a coordination role across such functions and can provide advice and guidance in specific cases.
Direct Ministerial appointments reflect the successive practice of administrations in engaging eminent individuals to provide independent views and advice to Government on specific areas. Such appointments should, by nature, be flexible to the circumstances of the situation and in line with wider public law duties. Appointments are made by Ministers. Appointees must abide by the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and should ensure that any relevant interests are declared to the Senior Civil Servant sponsoring their work to ensure that no actual or reasonably perceived conflicts arise.
Departments are responsible for their own transparency releases as they hold the information required to generate them and must take steps to ensure the accuracy of the information. The Cabinet Office provides central guidance to ensure consistency of information.
Asked by: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timeline is for the Government issuing its responses to the (a) Boardman report on the development and use of supply chain finance, published in August 2021 and (b) Committee on Standards in Public Life's report on standards, published in November 2021.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the Hon Member to HCWS500.
The Government has set out that a policy statement in response to the Upholding Standards in Public Life Report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the review into the development and use of Supply Chain Finance in government by Nigel Boardman will be published in due course.
Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements in their departments in line with legislation, the relevant Codes of Conduct and requirements of Managing Public Money. They are supported by legal, HR and finance professionals in discharging these obligations. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury provide a coordination role across such functions and can provide advice and guidance in specific cases.
Direct Ministerial appointments reflect the successive practice of administrations in engaging eminent individuals to provide independent views and advice to Government on specific areas. Such appointments should, by nature, be flexible to the circumstances of the situation and in line with wider public law duties. Appointments are made by Ministers. Appointees must abide by the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and should ensure that any relevant interests are declared to the Senior Civil Servant sponsoring their work to ensure that no actual or reasonably perceived conflicts arise.
Departments are responsible for their own transparency releases as they hold the information required to generate them and must take steps to ensure the accuracy of the information. The Cabinet Office provides central guidance to ensure consistency of information.
Asked by: Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made on the standards in public life workstream under the Open Government Partnership; when he plans to initiate the co-creation process with civil society; and what his target date is for the final commitments.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The UK’s fifth National Action Plan was published in January 2022. Owing to the necessary implications of Covid-safe working practices, engagement between government and civil society has taken place exclusively via online platforms. This has enabled the involvement of a greater number of stakeholders from across the UK.
The Government will amend and develop the Plan with civil society over the course of 2022, with a multi-stakeholder forum due to meet in May to reflect on the commitment areas and discuss next steps. A timeline for amendments will then be published.