This Lords Library briefing provides information on ministerial collective responsibility in the light of the 2016 EU referendum.
Ministerial Collective Responsibility and Agreement to Differ: Recent Developments (163 KB , PDF)
This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information on collective responsibility in government and recent developments. It also compares the agreements to differ in place for the 2016 EU referendum and during the 1975 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EEC.
Collective Responsibility
The principle of collective responsibility is set out in both the Ministerial Code and the Cabinet Manual and requires ministers to present a unified front in regard to decisions made by government. As part of this convention, ministers are able to express their views confidentially within government while supporting in public and in Parliament the decisions agreed by government. The Cabinet Manual states any minister who cannot accept government decisions “is expected to resign”. However, an exception to this rule can exist “where collective agreement is expressly set aside”.
Agreements to Differ
An exception to the normal rules regarding Cabinet collective agreement has been agreed further to the 23 June 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. The stated intention of this ‘agreement to differ’ was to allow for there to be a clear government position on the UK’s membership of the EU while at the same time allowing individual ministers to take different personal positions.
Previous examples of where exceptions to the principle of collective responsibility have been formally agreed are:
Civil Service Guidance
In 2016, the Government stated that, while ministers may hold their own views on the referendum, the role of the civil service should be to support the settled government position. The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Sir Jeremy Heywood, issued guidance to civil servants on 23 February 2016. This guidance has been criticised by ministers opposed to the Government’s position regarding the referendum question, on the basis that it would lead to the withholding of documents by departmental civil servants from their Secretary of State.
Ministerial Collective Responsibility and Agreement to Differ: Recent Developments (163 KB , PDF)
The Conservative government set an expectation that civil servants spend at least 60% of their working week at a government building or on official business. The Labour government has maintained this expectation due to the “clear benefits of face-to-face working”. Some civil servants have raised concerns about the 60% office attendance mandate, including civil servants in HM Land Registry who have recently voted in favour of strike action.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill would introduce requirements on those responsible for certain publicly accessible premises and events to implement measures in the event of a terrorist attack. It would also require certain larger premises and events to take steps to reduce their vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
In 2024 the restoration and renewal programme announced it would be developing three options to preserve the Palace of Westminster. Details should be presented to Parliament in 2025. Members will then decide whether the programme should temporarily relocate both Houses of Parliament, keep the Commons Chamber onsite while temporarily relocating the Lords, or conduct a rolling programme of works “to deliver enhanced maintenance and improvement”. Surveying, design and remediation work was also progressed in 2024.
