Recommendation 9

In addition to the wider efforts to improve basic documentation, the Department told us that it had introduced measures such as spot checks by the principal private secretary to reinforce the importance of proper record-keeping in private offices. The Department explained that the measures were designed to ensure staff in private offices and policy teams always kept records of any discussions that had substantive government business as part of them or were relevant to decision making. This applied to both minuting of meetings and maintaining records of ministers’ engagements with external organisations.17 Conflicts of interest