CONFIDENTIAL
Collective Responsibility
26. Departmental witnesses, whether in closed or open session,
should preserve the collective responsibility of Ministers and their
departments by not revealing (except so far as this is implied in
what is proposed in para 28) the level at which decisions were
taken. This is a factor which may need to be borne in mind when
deciding whether particular witnesses should appear, or should
appear separately (see para 11). It should also be borne in mind
that decisions taken by Ministers collectively are normally announced
and defended by the Minister responsible as his own decisions and it
is important that no indication should be given of the manner in
which a Minister has consulted his colleagues (see also para 12 on
the special position of the Law Officers). Nor should information
be given about the existence, composition or terms of reference of
Cabinet Committees, or the identity of their chairmen, and if
witnesses are questioned on such matters they must decline to give
specific answers. There is, however, no objection to pointing out
in general terms that consultation between departments runs through
the whole fabric of government and occurs at all levels from the
humblest contact between officials to consideration in the Cabinet
itself.
}
27. Since the Expenditure Committee and the specialist Committees
are considering policy and evidence is normally in public, it is
important that departments should clear with any other department
which may have an interest both memoranda and the line to be taken
in oral evidence, even if the time for this is short.
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CONFIDENTIAL