MINISTERIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
4.86 The House has resolved that, in the opinion
of this House, the following principles should govern the conduct
of Ministers of the Crown in relation to Parliament:
(1) Ministers have a duty to Parliament to
account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and
actions of their Departments and Executive Agencies;
(2) It is of paramount importance that Ministers
should 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;
(3) Ministers should be as open as possible with
Parliament, refusing to provide information only when disclosure
would not be in the public interest;
(4) Ministers should require civil servants who
give evidence before Parliamentary Committees on their behalf
and under their directions to be as helpful as possible in providing
accurate, truthful and full information;
(5) The interpretation of "public interest"
in paragraph (3) shall be decided in accordance with statute and
the Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government Information;[164]
and compliance with the duty in paragraph (4) shall be in accordance
with the duties and responsibilities of civil servants set out
in the Civil Service Code.[165]
164 This Code was completely superseded by the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
and had no effect after 1 January 2005. Back
165
HL Deb. 20 March 1997 cols 1055-62; LJ (1996-97) 404. Back
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