Ministerial Code

The Ministerial Code is a document setting out "rules" and standards for government ministers in the United Kingdom. Separate codes exist for ministers of the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive (based on the St Andrews Agreement) and the Welsh Government.

Codes of conduct for ministers are amongst a range of initiatives designed to respond to perceptions of the erosion of ministerial accountability, and to preserve public trust in the institutions of cabinet government. Written guidance for British cabinet ministers began as the document Questions of Procedure for Ministers (QPM), which was a confidential document prepared by the Cabinet Office to assist ministers, and dates to at least the 1980s.

The earliest published form of the Code is a result of the QPM's release by the Major Government in 1992. Further editions have been based on suggestions and recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life. The first edition to be entitled Ministerial Code was Tony Blair's 1997 set of rules. The most recent version was released in May 2010 (by convention, each new Prime Minister issues their own).

When Gordon Brown came into office in June 2007 he appointed Sir Philip Mawer, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, as the Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests – a form of enforcer to conduct investigations and give confidential advice. The Adviser under Tony Blair was Comptroller and Auditor General Sir John Bourn. The Cabinet Secretary, currently Jeremy Heywood, is responsible for clearing ministers' financial matters.

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