Ir thomas dugdales resignation over the crichel down affair was widely. Session 4 parliamentary principles and performance. Crichel down 8 accountability and responsibility 10 chapter 3. Constitutional and administrative law hilaire barnett. British government and the constitution text, cases and materials fourth edition colin turpin. Disposal of land by local authorities scotland regulations 2010.
What has always been clear is that dugdale did not have the support of his own partys backbenchers, and the cabinet had to limit the damage. S ir thomas dugdales resignation over the crichel down affair was widely. The crichel down rules are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase. The constitutional doctrine, developed by 19th century constitutional experts such as dicey, was that ministers are responsible to parliament for everything that happened in their departments. Individual ministerial responsibility issues and examples. The crichel down affair was a british political scandal of 1954, with a subsequent effect and. Ministerial responsibility, a fundamental constitutional principle in the british westminster parliamentary system according to which ministers are responsible to the parliament for the conduct of their ministry and government as a whole. Does individual ministerial responsibility still exist. Surely, he says, if an official deliberately flouts a ministerial instruction or policy in the anticipation that this will force the minister to resign, there should be a relaxation to prevent that happening. Is ministerial responsibility a constitutional doctrine or.
Uk ministerial responsibility to parliament britpolitics. The crichel down rules 1 are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in. Occasionally ministers resign due to policy errors classic example is the famous crichel down affair of 1954 when the agriculture minister, sir thomas dugdale, resigned because of departmental maladministration of which he knew nothing about. Farmland in dorset, which was called crichel down, was acquired under compulsory purchase powers by the air ministry in 1938 prior to the outbreak of war for a new bombing range.
Farmland in dorset, which was called crichel down, was acquired under compulsory purchase powers10 by the air ministry in 1938 prior to the outbreak of war for a new bombing range11. The first is that all ministers once they know of a government policy, must defend itor keep silent about it. Mr dancona, arguing in yesterdays sunday telegraph, suggested that the hard and pure doctrine of crichel down should be modified at least to ensure one thing. Individual ministerial responsibility is not the same as cabinet collective responsibility, which states members of the cabinet must approve publicly of its collective. Ministerial responsibility 81 access to information and reasons 83 chapter 2 law, convention and liberty 86.
Facts of the crichel down affair how these apply to the convention of individual ministerial responsibility do the arrangements for ministerial responsibility and parliamentary scrutiny of the scottish executive represent any improvement on the. Moreover, the link between individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility is elaborated upon, citing where one ends and. There are justified exceptions to the duty upon a minister to provide information, including national security and commercial confidentiality, but. The following case refers to a landowner crichel down which claims an unfair situation of reselling to him the land owned by his family when the ministry of agriculture and the crown lands commissioner refused to resell the land to him individual ministerial responsibility, 2004. In an interview on agenda bbc scotland, 31182 the former solicitorgeneral, nicholas fairbairn, invoked text book ministerial precedent of sir thomas dugdale and the crichel down affair of 1954 in explaining his own fall. The doctrine of ministerial accountability is not straight forward. The crichel down rules and the sale of public land pdf. See finer, the individual responsibility of ministers, and chester, d. Individual ministerial responsibility is not the same as cabinet collective resp. The crichel down affair was a british political scandal of 1954, with a subsequent effect and notoriety.
In 1954 the crichel down case led to the resignation of sir thomas dugdale, agricluture minister. Uk ministerial responsibility to parliament free essays. Accountability of civil servants to ministers 18 12 appointments of permanent secretaries 20 12 the governments proposals 21 12 objections to the proposed reform 24. Distinction between responsibility and accountability 11 iii wider aspects of ministerial responsibility 12 a. Perhaps the bestknown statements on the convention of ministerial responsibility for the civil service were made in the crichel down episode as set out in box 1. By the 1850s, due to the progressive extension of the franchise, departments began to evolve as parties. I shall have something more to say about ministerial responsibility before i sit down. The convention of individual ministerial responsibility is classically illustrated in the 1954 affair known as. The accountability of british ministers law public essay.
Report of a com mittee appointed by the prime minister to consider whether certain civil servants should be transferred to other duties cmd. Individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the. The crichel down rules are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in the light of the affair. The relationship between ministers and civil servants 12 b.
The minister responsible, sir thomas dugdale, resigned and the crichel estate part. The crichel down rules relate to the disposal of land formerly acquired by, or under the threat of. Guidance on compulsory purchase process and the crichel down rules for the disposal of surplus land acquired by, or under threat of, compulsion october 2015 31 appendix f. The crichel down rules require government departments, under certain circumstances, to offer back surplus land to the former owner or the former owners successors at the current market value. Sign tarrant hinton village of tarrant hinton derelict service camp on down. Ministerial consent for disposals held on the hra should be sent to the scottish. Research paper 0431 individual ministerial responsibility issues and examples offers an introduction to the constitutional convention of ministerial responsibility. The role of individual ministerial responsibility in relation to departmental errors in current parliaments is a vexed question. The resignation of the government minister sir thomas dugdale has been taken as setting a precedent on ministerial responsibility, even though the doctrine supposed to. Ministerial responsibility for the civil service 3 8 box 1. House of lords the accountability of civil servants constitution. Individual ministerial accountability house of commons.
Individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the westminster system that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department. Where it is decided on specific ministerial authority that the land is needed by another department i. The land was purchased compulsorily in 1938 by the air ministry for use for bombing practice by the royal air force. In his resignation speech, the minister set out the main. The role of individual ministerial responsibility in relation to departmental. But the convention of ministerial responsibility means that it is ministers who are held. The minister responsible resigned, and the crichel estate part of the land was sold back to the owners the martens, as described in the battle for crichel down. Does ministerial responsibility still exit, or indeed, has it ever existed, or has it been just a parliamentary tactic for the media and opposition parties. Ministerial careers and accountability in the australian commonwealth government pdf. Griffith produced one of the first learned articles on the crichel down affair which culminated in the resignation of the minister of agriculture, sir thomas. I, as minister, must accept full responsibility to parliament for any mistakes. The individual responsibility of ministers wiley online library.
The constitutional concept of individual ministerial responsibility is a central notion in the westminster model of parliamentary democracy. Manual and letters patent to execute certain prerogative acts of the crown. The crichel down rules and the sale of public land roger. Compulsory purchase process and the crichel down rules 29 october 2015. Crichel down rules 5 housing revenue account 56 annex a 79 the disposal of land by local authorities scotland regulations 2010. The crichel down rules and the sale of public land roger gibbard introduction. In 1954 the minister of agriculture, sir thomas dugdale, resigned following an official. The role of the media iv some illustrative examples 14 a. It covers significant resignations such as crichel down in 1954 and instances where demands for resignations were resisted. In a written ministerial statement to parliament of 17 january 20071, the secretary of. In april, lord carrington resigned over the falklands issue as did his deputies. Individual ministerial responsibility wikimili, the best. Devolution is now well established,reforms to the electoral process and political party funding have been addressed, a freedom of information act has been enacted and the house of lords has been partially reformed. He did not himself handle the land at crichel down in the way which offended, but he took the blame for his.