Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
First Report - The role and status of the Prime Minister’s Office
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
HC 67
Published 9 June 2021
Recommendations
4
Para 42
We do not consider the status of the Office of Prime Minister as a business...
Recommendation
We do not consider the status of the Office of Prime Minister as a business unit to be an accurate reflection of the role that it plays. Yet it currently operates with even less transparency that this status suggests. For …
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Conclusions (8)
1
Conclusion
Para 35
The lack of a statutory definition of the roles of the Prime Minister or the Cabinet in the UK has been reflected in the evolution of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office. As Prime Ministers have sought to increase their strategic leadership and policy role, the …
2
Conclusion
There should be a clearer delineation between those resources provided to support the Prime Minister and the support for collective government and cross-government activity more generally. (Paragraph 36) Accountability
3
Conclusion
Para 41
The Office of the Prime Minister is nominally a business unit of the Cabinet Office. However, it currently it appears to operate with even less transparency than other Cabinet Office business units. The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts do not include a narrative report on the Office of the …
5
Conclusion
Para 43
In its Single Departmental Plan, the objectives of supporting the Prime Minister should be disaggregated from the support provided to the Cabinet or the Government more generally.
6
Conclusion
Para 49
We have heard little evidence to support the creation of a separate Department for the Prime Minister. The current Office of the Prime Minister is too small and much of its workforce too transient to be sensibly treated as a distinct department. The creation of a larger department, bringing together …
7
Conclusion
Whilst the creation of a separate department would help to resolve some of the accountability issues that have concerned us in this inquiry, these could be resolved more easily through greater transparency within the existing arrangements. (Paragraph 50) 22 The role and status of the Prime Minister’s Office
8
Conclusion
Para 56
Increasing the direct accountability of the most senior Spads in Number 10 in this way would reflect the quasi-executive role that some have assumed. However, to do so would be to accept this quasi-executive role. The principle that “advisers advise, ministers decide” should remain the practice and Ministers, including the …
9
Conclusion
The role of Special Advisers in Number 10 has evolved to such a degree that some have played a quasi-executive role. This is wrong. It undermines both ministerial accountability to Parliament and collective responsibility on the part of Cabinet. Ministers, including the Prime Minister, should remain fully accountable for the …