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RHI-42

Ministerial Code Revision

RHI Inquiry · The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · Issued 13 March 2020 · Addressed to: Northern Ireland Executive

Government responseNorthern Ireland Executive: Accepted (Oct 2021)

DeliveryNorthern Ireland Executive says in progress (Feb 2025)Department of Finance says in progress (Mar 2024)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The Code of Conduct issued to Northern Ireland Ministers in 2007 (contained within the Northern Ireland Ministerial Code 2006) should be revised and brought up to date reflecting the findings of the RHI Inquiry and drawing on relevant best practice standards from ministerial codes of conduct used elsewhere in the UK and indeed from Northern Ireland’s earlier Ministerial Code of 2000. This should be a priority for the Northern Ireland Executive. From the experience of this Inquiry, a revised code would among other things:

explain how Ministers are expected to fulfil their responsibilities when leading a Department and determining a Department’s policies;
make clear that Ministers have an active role in questioning and challenging the advice they receive;
cross-reference to Ministers’ duties under “Managing Public Money Northern Ireland”;
be clear that, unless and until the legislation is changed, each Minister is individually responsible for the recruitment, management and discipline of his/her SpAd, including for observing the Northern Ireland laws and guidance in force in relation to SpAds;
clarify expectations about collaboration and joint working between Ministers of different Departments as well as an individual Minister’s responsibility to support the Government in Northern Ireland as a whole;
Consideration should also include whether recent changes to the Westminster, Scottish Executive and Welsh Government Ministerial Codes of Conduct could be relevant to the Northern Ireland context. For example, the Westminster Ministerial Code of August 2019 published by the Cabinet Office specifically provides at paragraph 3.3 that “The responsibility for the management and conduct of Special Advisers, including discipline, rests with the Minister who made the appointment. Individual Ministers will be accountable to the Prime Minister, Parliament and the public for their actions and decisions in respect of their Special Advisers.”

RHI Inquiry, The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · 13 Mar 2020 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry recommended revising and updating the Northern Ireland Ministerial Code. In February 2025, the Northern Ireland Executive reported that officials would advise the First Minister and deputy First Minister on revisions to ministerial guidance before referral to the Executive for agreement (Northern Ireland Executive, Feb 2025). In October 2024, the Northern Ireland Audit Office found that the recommendation was likely to be fully implemented based on planned action (Northern Ireland Audit Office, Oct 2024). In March 2024, the Department of Finance stated that the role of ministers regarding official advice remained to be referred to the Executive for consideration (Department of Finance, Mar 2024).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 12 Oct 2026.

Government response

●Northern Ireland Executive · Accepted · 7 Oct 2021

Words of: Northern Ireland Executive, Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan, Annex A, 7 October 2021

These recommendations can be accepted in full, with the exception of the consideration of an independent mechanism to assess special advisers’ compliance with the Code of Conduct.

They have been addressed through work to date, including:
• revisions to the Ministerial Code of Conduct, Code of Conduct for Special Advisers and NICS Code of Ethics, and the introduction of new Guidance for Ministers;
• the publication of new enforcement arrangements for ministerial standards of behaviour;
• agreement on the development of a multi-year outcomes-focussed Programme for Government, aligned with the Budget, including stakeholder engagement and consultation;
• departmental induction and briefing for Ministers on the return of the Executive, and Executive away-days;
• the strengthening of Private Offices including the higher grading of the Private Secretary and Assistant Private Secretary roles;
• identification of the team where matters of policy in respect of Special Advisers are to be dealt with.

Further work is required to:
• deliver induction programmes for Ministers and for special advisers;
• arrange for publication of relevant interests of civil servants.

Response document: Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan: Annex A Summary of Recommendations and Response

Site note: These are the Northern Ireland Executive's words from Annex A, "Summary of Recommendations and Response", published on this page with the Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan on 7 October 2021, the day the Executive agreed it. The Department of Finance publishes the response, but it is the Executive's, so the site records it under the Executive. The annex is a PDF that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links it.

Site note: Annex A gives this passage once, for the recommendations under its heading "MINISTERS AND SPECIAL ADVISERS": recommendations 5, 6, 7, 25, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43. It is the Executive's response to the group, not to this recommendation alone.

Delivery

●Northern Ireland Executive says in progress · 19 Feb 2025

TEO officials will provide advice to FM and dFM on revisions to the Protocol on the Conduct of Executive Business and to the Guidance to Ministers on the Exercise of their Official Responsibilities before the end of March for their consideration and, if they are content, for subsequent referral to the Executive for discussion and agreement. .

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

Site note: In the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 the lead named for this commitment is "TEO / Chris Stewart". The name is the table's record of who is to act, not the speaker: the words are the Executive's.

●Department of Finance says in progress · 14 Mar 2024

The role of Ministers in relation to official advice will be one element in a range of matters to be referred to the Executive for consideration.

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Department of Finance · 1 Sep 2023

The definition of the role of Ministers in relation to official advice will be one element in a range of matters to be referred to future Ministers for review in relation to their function, role and conduct.

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

●Department of Finance · 16 Mar 2020

Finance Minister, Conor Murphy has strengthened governance and accountability arrangements for Ministers and established an external, independent panel to identify any potential misconduct by civil servants in relation to the findings of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Inquiry.

A revised Code of Conduct for Ministers and new Guidance for Ministers in the exercise of their official functions have both been agreed by the Executive.

From: Murphy Strengthens Ministerial Standards and sets up independent civil service disciplinary panel

Site note: Department of Finance news release of 16 March 2020, three days after the Inquiry reported. Recommendation 42 is addressed to the Executive; the release reports the Executive's agreement to the revised Code. The page has since been removed, so the site's copy is from an Internet Archive capture of 27 September 2024.

What other bodies have found

In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.

●NI Audit Office · 15 Oct 2024

The recommendation as a whole is likely to be fully implemented based on the planned action.

From: Northern Ireland Non-Domestic RHI Scheme: Progressing implementation of the Public Inquiry recommendations - 2nd Report (Appendix 4)

Site note: This is the Northern Ireland Audit Office's assessment, from Appendix 4 of its second report on the Inquiry's recommendations (15 October 2024), the column "2024 NIAO Assessment". The Audit Office monitors implementation at the Inquiry's request; its assessment is shown beside the Executive's own account and does not set the recommendation's status.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.