Not anonymous: Ministerial responsibility and the British accounting officers

Canadian Public Administration

Volumn 40, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 626-652

  Franks, C E S ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0345811312     PISSN: 00084840     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1754-7121.1997.tb02178.x     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Canada, Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution (Ottawa: PCO, 1993), p. 27. First published in 1977. The clerk of the Privy Council in his preface to the 1993 edition says that this document "has been used as a basic reference work within and around the Privy Council ever since [1977]" and that it is being reissued "with the aim of making it more widely available to those interested in the history and foundations of our system of responsible government and of the principles and conventions that underlie it." I have therefore felt justified in using this document as a statement of the "orthodoxy" on the doctrines of ministerial responsibility of recent Canadian governments.
2. Ibid., p. 5.
3. Ken Kernaghan and David Siegel, Public Administration in Canada: A Text, 3rd edition (Toronto: Nelson, 1995), p. 413.
4. Canada, Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Lambert Commission), Final Report (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1979), pp. 374-9.
5. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, p. 55.
6. Sir Ivor Jennings, The Law and the Constitution, 5th edition (London: University of London Press, 1959), pp. 207-208.
7. A.V. Dicey, An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, 10th edition (London: Macmillan, 1959), especially Chapter 12, "Rule of Law compared with Droit Administratif," pp. 328-405.
8. Geoffrey Marshall, ed., Ministerial Responsibility (London: Oxford University Press, 1989), "Introduction," p. 11.
9. United Kingdom, Treasury and Civil Service Committee, Civil Servants and Ministers, HC 92 (1985-6) (London: HMSO, 1986), p. 3.16.
10. Two places where accounting officers have been discussed in Canadian materials are Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 75-9; and G.B. Doern, The Relevance and Transferability of Selected British Institutions of Financial Accountability to Canada: A Report and Briefing Document Prepared for the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1977). Two useful modern British sources are Diana Woodhouse, Ministers and Parliament: Accountability in Theory and Practice (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994); and Philip Giddings, ed., Parliamentary Accountability: A Study of Parliament and Executive Agencies (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995).
11. Two places where accounting officers have been discussed in Canadian materials are Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 75-9; and G.B. Doern, The Relevance and Transferability of Selected British Institutions of Financial Accountability to Canada: A Report and Briefing Document Prepared for the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1977). Two useful modern British sources are Diana Woodhouse, Ministers and Parliament: Accountability in Theory and Practice (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994); and Philip Giddings, ed., Parliamentary Accountability: A Study of Parliament and Executive Agencies (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995).
12. Two places where accounting officers have been discussed in Canadian materials are Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 75-9; and G.B. Doern, The Relevance and Transferability of Selected British Institutions of Financial Accountability to Canada: A Report and Briefing Document Prepared for the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1977). Two useful modern British sources are Diana Woodhouse, Ministers and Parliament: Accountability in Theory and Practice (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994); and Philip Giddings, ed., Parliamentary Accountability: A Study of Parliament and Executive Agencies (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995).
13. Two places where accounting officers have been discussed in Canadian materials are Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 75-9; and G.B. Doern, The Relevance and Transferability of Selected British Institutions of Financial Accountability to Canada: A Report and Briefing Document Prepared for the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1977). Two useful modern British sources are Diana Woodhouse, Ministers and Parliament: Accountability in Theory and Practice (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994); and Philip Giddings, ed., Parliamentary Accountability: A Study of Parliament and Executive Agencies (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1995).
14. United Kingdom, "Treasury Minutes," 14 August 1872 and 20 December 1873. I am grateful to Mr. D.A. Dewar, assistant auditor general in the National Audit Office, for assisting me with this historical research.
15. Memorandum of Sir Robert Chalmers, 9 July 1906 (London: National Audit Office 14039/ 05).
16. United Kingdom, HM Treasury, The Responsibilities of an Accounting Officer (London: HMSO, 1991).
17. Ibid.
18. Samuel H. Beer, Treasury Control: The Coordination of Financial and Economic Policy in Great Britain (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957), pp. 115-16.
19. Sir Ivor Jennings, Cabinet Government (London: Cambridge University Press, 1947), p. 136.
20. Basil Chubb, The Control of Public Expenditure: Financial Committees of the House of Commons (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952), pp. 187-8.
21. Peter Hennessy, Whitehall (London: Fontana, 1990), p. 332.
22. United Kingdom, National Audit Office (NOA), The Pergau Dam Project, 1992-3, HC 908 (London: HMSO, 1993).
23. United Kingdom, House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee, "Defence Exports and Aid Provision," Public Expenditure: The Pergau Hydro-Electric Project, Malaysia, The Aid and Trade Provision and Related Matters, Third Report (London: HMSO, 1994), pp. ix-xx.
24. United Kingdom, House of Commons, Committee of Public Accounts, Pergau Hydro-Electric Project Minutes of Evidence, Seventeenth Report, 17 January 1994 (London: HMSO, 1994), p. 5.
25. Ibid., p. 6
26. Ibid., p. vi.
27. Geoffrey Lean, "Ministers Slash Aid in Revenge for Pergau," The Independent (London) 17 September 1995.
28. See Anthony Barker and Graham K. Wilson, "Whitehall's Disobedient Servants? Senior Officials' Potential Resistance to Ministers in British Government Departments," British Journal of Political Science 27, no. 2 (April 1997), pp. 236-46, pp. 227-8.
29. HM Treasury, Responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, Paras. 13-14.
30. Nigel Williamson, "Defiant Ministers Lose Right to Secrecy," The Times of London 2 February 1995. See also Barker and Wilson, "Whitehall's Disobedient Servants?" British Journal of Political Science, pp. 224-5.
31. Nigel Williamson, "Defiant Ministers Lose Right to Secrecy," The Times of London 2 February 1995. See also Barker and Wilson, "Whitehall's Disobedient Servants?" British Journal of Political Science, pp. 224-5.
32. n.a., "Younger Accepts Blame" [editorial] The Times of London 4 March 1997.
33. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 75-9.
34. Ibid., p. 76.
35. Ibid., p. 78.
36. Memorandum by Lord Lingen for the use of the French Government, Treasury Chambers, Whitehall, 15 August 1881.
37. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, p. 78.
38. Ibid.
39. Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Lambert Commission), Final Report, pp. 181-9; The Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons (McGrath Committee), Report (Ottawa: Supply and Services, 1985), pp. 20-1.
40. Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Lambert Commission), Final Report, pp. 181-9; The Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons (McGrath Committee), Report (Ottawa: Supply and Services, 1985), pp. 20-1.
41. A.W. Johnson, Reflections on Administrative Reform in the Government of Canada, 1962-1991 (Ottawa: Office of the Auditor General, 1992), p. 14 (emphasis in the original).
42. See Henry Roseveare, The Treasury: The Evolution of a British Institution (London: Penguin Press, 1969), pp. 306-309, for a good discussion of some of its post-war weaknesses and revitalization.
43. An excellent discussion of the history and evolution of parliamentary control of finances in Canada, including the functioning of the Public Accounts Committee and the role of the auditor general, can be found in Norman Ward, The Public Purse (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1961).
44. Stanley de Smith and Rodney Brazier, Constitutional and Administrative Law, 6th edition (London: Penguin, 1989), p. 288.
45. One place where Canadian legislation dictates consultation with opposition party leaders, which in effect leads to their sharing in appointments, is in the Security and Intelligence Review Committee.
46. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 78-9.
47. Useful sources on patronage include Jeffrey Simpson, The Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage (Toronto: Collins, 1988); and The Journal of Canadian Studies 32, no. 2 (Summer 1987), especially the articles by S.J.R. Noel, David E. Smith, Reg Whitaker, and Norman Ward. See also Donald Ripley, Bagman: A Life in Nova Scotia Politics (Toronto: Key Porter, 1993); and John Laschinger and Geoffrey Stevens, Leaders and Lesser Mortals: Backroom Politics in Canada (Toronto: Key Porter, 1992).
48. Useful sources on patronage include Jeffrey Simpson, The Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage (Toronto: Collins, 1988); and The Journal of Canadian Studies 32, no. 2 (Summer 1987), especially the articles by S.J.R. Noel, David E. Smith, Reg Whitaker, and Norman Ward. See also Donald Ripley, Bagman: A Life in Nova Scotia Politics (Toronto: Key Porter, 1993); and John Laschinger and Geoffrey Stevens, Leaders and Lesser Mortals: Backroom Politics in Canada (Toronto: Key Porter, 1992).
49. Useful sources on patronage include Jeffrey Simpson, The Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage (Toronto: Collins, 1988); and The Journal of Canadian Studies 32, no. 2 (Summer 1987), especially the articles by S.J.R. Noel, David E. Smith, Reg Whitaker, and Norman Ward. See also Donald Ripley, Bagman: A Life in Nova Scotia Politics (Toronto: Key Porter, 1993); and John Laschinger and Geoffrey Stevens, Leaders and Lesser Mortals: Backroom Politics in Canada (Toronto: Key Porter, 1992).
50. Useful sources on patronage include Jeffrey Simpson, The Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage (Toronto: Collins, 1988); and The Journal of Canadian Studies 32, no. 2 (Summer 1987), especially the articles by S.J.R. Noel, David E. Smith, Reg Whitaker, and Norman Ward. See also Donald Ripley, Bagman: A Life in Nova Scotia Politics (Toronto: Key Porter, 1993); and John Laschinger and Geoffrey Stevens, Leaders and Lesser Mortals: Backroom Politics in Canada (Toronto: Key Porter, 1992).
51. Sharon Sutherland, " Responsible Government and Ministerial Responsibility: Every Reform its own Problem," Canadian Journal of Political Science 24, no. 1 (March 1991), pp. 114-15.
52. Ibid., p. 120.
53. Sharon Sutherland, "The Al-Mashat affair: administrative accountability in parliamentary institutions," CANADA PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 34, no. 4 (Winter 1991), pp. 571-603.
54. See my The Parliament of Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), pp. 244-9.
55. Gordon Osbaldeston, Keeping Deputy Ministers Accountable (Whitby, Ont.: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1989).
56. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, pp. 78-9.
57. Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountably (Lambert Commission), Final Report, p. 61.
58. See Osbaldeston, Keeping Deputy Ministers Accountable, pp. 64-9.
59. Privy Council Office, Responsibility in the Constitution, p. 61.
60. Ibid., p. 67.
61. Ibid., p. 85.
62. Canada, Clerk of the Privy Council [Paul M. Tellier], Public Service 2000: A Report on Progress (Ottawa: PCO, 1992), pp. 74-5.
63. Osbaldeston, Keeping Deputy Ministers Accountable, pp. 53-4.
64. "RCMP Reviews Bitove Deal at Pearson: Mulroney intervened for Tory-connected Executive in Negotiations on Food Concession" The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 1 December 1995.