Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Fourth Report - Propriety of Governance in Light of Greensill
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
HC 888
Published 2 December 2022
Recommendations
5
Rejected
Para 29
Putting ACOBA on a statutory basis is not a prerequisite for the Rules to be...
Recommendation
Putting ACOBA on a statutory basis is not a prerequisite for the Rules to be legally enforced and should not delay it being put into operation. Nonetheless, to reflect the importance of its role and to clarify the status of …
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Government Response Summary
The Government does not believe that ACOBA should be established in primary legislation, but will allow this reform package to take effect before any further consideration of statutory change, in the next Parliament.
6
Rejected
Para 35
The Government should implement the CSPL’s recommendation to extend the scope of the Business Appointment...
Recommendation
The Government should implement the CSPL’s recommendation to extend the scope of the Business Appointment Rules to prohibit employment in sectors where the applicant has had “significant and direct” responsibility for policy, regulation or the award of contracts rather than …
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Government Response Summary
The Government does not believe that the Code, nor any other document, should set out directly indicative examples of sanctions that should apply to particular breaches, with the exception that resignation is expected for Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament.
21
Rejected
Para 95
If the introduction of graduated sanctions to the Ministerial Code is to be effective, it...
Recommendation
If the introduction of graduated sanctions to the Ministerial Code is to be effective, it cannot be used as a means to avoid significant sanction for serious breaches. The Government should outline the range of sanctions and indicative examples of …
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Government Response Summary
The government does not believe the Ministerial Code should set out directly indicative examples of sanctions that should apply to particular breaches, except that resignation is expected for Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament, as it's for the Prime Minister to determine sanctions on a case-by-case basis.
Conclusions (1)
23
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 103
The landscape of standards regulation is a patchwork, with individual watchdogs with different powers, legal basis, and appointments processes.168 Placing on a statutory basis those that are not already is an opportunity to regularise them to some extent. However, whilst all have responsibility for overseeing standards, 168 See CSPL Upholding …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that where standards bodies are committees that the Chair of the body chairs the Advisory Assessment Panel for the recruitment of their independent members, but does not believe that these appointments require an extra layer of independent oversight.