Speeches by Lamb.

“The premise is that ultimately, regardless of whether or not a Minister is aware of something that is happening within their Department, they are still accountable for it and have to take responsibility?”

“Regardless of whether or not you were aware of them?”

“The premise of individual ministerial responsibility is that Ministers are responsible for everything that happens in their Department, regardless of whether or not they are directly involved.”

“The term that I have heard used throughout my time doing two degrees in politics is “individual ministerial responsibility” but I am happy to take any term within that.”

“So the convention that Ministers are not only responsible for their own actions but those undertaken by those underneath them in the structure no longer remains a part of the UK constitution?”

“Yes.”

“Given the changes being made to the standards regime and the goal to address some of these issues of public confidence, is this something we could potentially have the Cabinet Office try to do—to assess not necessarily that role but public confidence in the system as a whole?”

“It still affects public confidence in the system. Is there a reason you can think of why we would not want former Ministers to be able to be investigated where there had been some evidence of wrongdoing?”

“If we do have these areas where former Ministers are still held to account, does that mean that the Prime Minister has the ability, if he chose, to modify the code to enable former Ministers to similarly be investigated?”

“It was recently reported that the Independent Adviser can only investigate a current Minister. It cannot investigate a Minister who is suspended or resigned. Where is that rule set out?”

“That would mean that the only context that the severance payment might be required to be repaid would be for a breach around those rules?”

“The Government have changed the guidance, so if a Minister has breached the code or is subsequently found to have breached the code, they are expected to pay back their three-month severance payment. If the Independent Adviser does not investigate former Ministers, who makes that judgment?”

“If you know you have done wrong in the role and you are about to be found out, you are best off to resign because you will get a severance payment?”

“What do you understand by the term “individual ministerial responsibility”?”

“Consequences have not been absent for a while now from the system. What role do the Government envisage EIC playing in standards at the local level?”

“One of the concerns we have heard is that people have not understood the local government standards system, which is understandable. What consideration has been given for reducing the complexity and matching it up with the standards regime in Government and Parliament?”

“Is there any evidence that we have seen an increase in public confidence as a consequence of the changes made to that role?”

“Mr Madden, the Government have changed the title of the Independent Adviser and increased its ability to initiate inquiries. In practice, what effect do you believe these changes have had?”

“Turning to the issue of local government, the Government have indicated that they plan to legislate and introduce a new standards system for local authorities, including a mandatory code. Having been at council quite a long time, this is desperately needed. There was a noticeable decline after the removal of the Standa…”

“If there was something in the central Department, there would be an expectation that you would have been having sufficient control?”