§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
What sanctions, if any, are available to them when Ministers of the Crown breach the underlying principles of paragraph 27 of the Ministerial Code; and [HL1961]
Whether they are proposing to put in place measures to ensure that, in future, Ministers comply properly with paragraph 27 of the Ministerial Code; and, if so, what measures they have in mind. [HL1962]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonParagraph 1 of theMinisterial Code sets out the general duties of Ministers in relation to Parliament, based on the resolutions of both this House and another place in 1997. Paragraph 27 of the Ministerial Code makes it clear that, when Parliament is in session, Ministers will want to bear in mind the desire of Parliament that the most important announcements of Government policy should be made, in the first instance, in Parliament. It is for individual Ministers to account for their actions in accordance with the Ministerial Code.