Former Ministers
The question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Secretary's objectives 2026-27, published on 7 April 2026, what steps the Cabinet Secretary plans to take to deliver her 2026-27 objective of protecting the interests of former Governments and former Ministers.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Cabinet Manual provides the basis for the conventions and rules on the operation of government which serve to protect the interests of former governments and ministers.
This includes the maintenance of collective responsibility and the convention by which ministers (including former ministers) are indemnified by the Crown for any actions taken against them in the course of their ministerial duties. In particular, Chapter Eleven sets out a number of rules and processes relevant to former governments and ministers including maintenance of the official record, the protocols for accessing papers of a previous administration, management of and access to ministerial and Prime Ministerial records, and the ‘Radcliffe Rules’ which guide ministerial memoirs.
As well as upholding these conventions, the Cabinet Secretary's objectives for 2026-27 include ensuring Cabinet Secretariat processes are fit for the modern age, including the Cabinet Manual.
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