{"id":74921,"date":"2019-09-14T14:24:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T14:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essays.homeworkacetutors.com\/role-of-ministers-in-the-uk-political-system\/"},"modified":"2019-09-14T14:24:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T14:24:57","slug":"role-of-ministers-in-the-uk-political-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/role-of-ministers-in-the-uk-political-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Role of Ministers in the UK Political System"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Case Study Report \u2013 UK Government Ministers<\/h4>\n

\u00a0This case study report will be looking at the role UK ministers play within in the UK political system<\/a>, background of the role of government ministers, and the problem of ministerial overload associated with government ministers, while also discussing potential solutions <\/p>\n

Government ministers within the UK political system can be split into two categories, cabinet ministers and other ministers<\/a>. Currently in 2017 there are 118 ministers, which is broken down into 1 Prime minister, 22 cabinet ministers and 95 other ministers (ministers.gov.uk). Cabinet ministers are members of parliament appointed by the prime minister (Currently Theresa May after the 2017 general election) to head up specific government departments. E.g. Michael Gove is the current cabinet minister for the department of environment, food and rural affairs. The cabinet ministers are responsible for the development of policies within their department, with help from ministers of state, parliamentary and under secretaries of state and the civil service, departments can form a policy based on external pressures such as the media and the wider electorate. A recent example is a media campaign against microbeads damaging the environment and presenting risks to human health, which lead to proposed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of microbeads in the UK (Knapton, 2017)<\/p>\n

Various
\nfactors are taken into account when the Prime minister appoints Ministers,
\nfactors include party seniority and past ministerial roles (e.g. Michael
\nFallon), and party loyalty or someone considered a threat to the Prime
\nMinister. E.g. rumours of a leadership challenge against Theresa May by Boris
\nJohnson led to his appointment as foreign secretary after she won the 2016 leadership
\nchallenge. Personal skills are also taken into account such as communication,
\nmedia savviness and critical thinking. However the Prime Minister may also
\nappoint ministers based on regional differentials and representation (e.g.
\nBrown\u2019s cabinet ministers consisted of 5 females, David Cameron\u2019s cabinet after
\nthe 2015 general election had 7 females).<\/p>\n

\u00a0The next part of my report I\u2019ll be focussing
\non the issue of ministerial overload and the causes of ministerial. I will not
\nonly look at this problem presented to government ministers within in the UK,
\nbut also look at other countries ministers who may have experienced similar
\nproblems, while also discussing potential solutions to the problem. <\/p>\n

Ministerial
\noverload is when a minister\u2019s life is increasingly consumed towards their
\ndepartmental work,(as stated by Laughrin\u2019s law that states \u201cMinisterial diaries
\nabhor vacuum. Ministerial business automatically expands to full every minute
\nof a minister\u2019s day unless it is countered by a reverse irresistible force\u201d(Foster
\n1999, 198)),often resulting in the deterioration of their physical and mental
\nwell being\u00a0 which affects both minister\u2019s
\nand their departments resulting in a decrease in effectiveness and efficiency
\nwithin their department and other departments. Over the decades there\u2019s been a
\nsignificant increase in ministerial overload presenting a problem that not only
\naffects government ministers in the UK but also in other countries. Scholars
\nhave identified six key pressures that affects ministers physical and mental
\nstates within their department that contributes to the problem of ministerial
\noverload, these being instability and mobilisation, novelty, unsociability,
\nunpredictability and accountability. ( Laughrin, 2009). I will primarily
\ndiscuss the pressures of unpredictability and accountability and their
\ncontribution to ministerial overload. <\/p>\n

\u00a0Unpredictability, is when some events can
\nescalate and develop overnight with consequences that the government minister
\nmay not be aware of or hasn\u2019t prepared a contingency plan before the event
\nhappens. Brexit is an example of an unpredictable event which has led
\nministerial overload.\u00a0 No one in the UK
\nexpected the leave side to win the referendum in June 2016, it was taken for
\ngranted that the Remain part would win that the government didn\u2019t create a new
\ndepartment or have any contingency plans prepared in case leave won. After the
\nleave party won, a completely new department was created to deal with Brexit,
\nthis contributes to ministerial overload in many ways. <\/p>\n

First
\nis that new department was created, that means ministers and civil servants
\nappointed to this department has zero\/little experience in how to handle the
\ndepartment\u2019s business. Second is that being a new department it\u2019s more likely
\nto be underfunded than other departments, ministers and staff will likely be
\nunderpaid which could result in a reduced efficiency within the department and
\npotentially civil servants and staff could leave the department. To ensure the
\nnecessary funding the department needs money could be cut from other
\ndepartments, this would affect the efficiency of the department or departments
\naffected. Exiting the EU department recently has been criticised for the slow
\nprogress made in negotiations with the EU, the Daily mail has reported that the
\ngovernment is hiring 8,000 more civil servants and an extra \u00a3662 million pounds
\n(Scunthorpe, 2017) in the event of a no deal Brexit. This suggests that the
\nslow progress in negotiations is due at least in part to underfunding of the
\ndepartment. The third problem is co-operation between departments and the
\ndomino effect, in order of Brexit to be successful. Exiting the EU department
\nhas to work with other departments, (e.g. development strategies and
\ninternational trade department). This contributes to ministerial overload
\nbecause not only does the development strategies and international trade
\ndepartment have tons of international paper work to prioritise, read and make
\ndecisions, now they\u2019re expected to take on extra work, working longer hours often
\nwill only a minor pay rise. This over time results in deterioration of their
\nmental and physical wellbeing which will ultimately affect their work resulting
\nin an increase of error\/ mistakes which leads to a domino effect on other
\ndepartments who are reliant on inter departmental co-operation. We can compare
\nthe above problems associated with ministerial overload to the EU countries and
\ntheir handling of Brexit negotiations. The EU commission set up a department
\ntask force on article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom, which comprises
\nof the chief negotiator (Michael Barnier) and the deputy (Sabine Weyand) who
\nworks with other departments such as the international agreements and customs.
\nThese departments not only have to carry on with previous work prior Brexit,
\nbut also new post Brexit work, putting strains on the department\u2019s staff and
\nresources. Another problem is that most of the negotiations are carried out
\nthrough this task force, the individual EU countries don\u2019t have individual
\ngovernment departments to handle Brexit like the UK, but often the work is
\nshared between departments such as treasuries and foreign departments which add
\nmore work ( domestic and international) onto their already time consuming work
\nin underfunded departments. More pressure is applied to the task force because
\nthey may have to read and compromise on both individuals countries demands, but
\nalso the EU\u2019s collective demands in the negotiations. <\/p>\n

Accountability,
\nthe second issue ministers face that contributes towards ministerial overload.
\nCabinet ministers are appointed by the PM to head up a department and are
\nusually chosen based on background (such as representation of females) or based
\non other factors such as personal skills, e.g. media savviness. There are 2
\nmain accountability mechanisms that affect the effectiveness of ministers,
\nthese are the ministerial code and the media. The ministerial code is a code of
\nconduct and guidance on procedures that all ministers must uphold, which
\nincludes 7 principles of public life (selflessness, integrity, openness,
\nleadership, objectivity and honesty), while also being accurate in their
\ndealings with parliament disclosing any personal, financial and constituency
\nconflicts of interest. Ministers also face individual responsibility, i.e.
\ncabinet minister\u2019s bear the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their
\nministry or department. It\u2019s very rare nowadays for ministers in this event to
\nresign from their post, a rare example of this would be Shahid Malik stepping
\ndown as Justice Minister in the revelations of the MP expenses scandal.\u00a0 They\u2019re also subject to collective
\nresponsibility, the duty of ministers to publicly agree with government
\npolicies, ministers that cannot conform to this are expected to resign. It also
\nrefers to the responsibility of the government as a whole to be accountable for
\nits actions, the government must be willing to resign and have a general
\nelection if defeated in a vote of no confidence.(ministerial code, gov.uk) This
\nlimits the effectiveness of ministers in their roles within departments,
\nbecause if a mistake, error occurs within the department civil servants, the
\ncabinet minister is expected to take responsibility and resign even though it
\nmay not be their direct fault, ministers therefore have to spend more time in
\ntheir department to ensure these errors are not made especially in regards to
\ndepartment policies specifically flagship or policies with high importance or
\nintense media scrutiny. Most democratic countries have their own forms of
\nministerial codes of conducts that bear some similarities with the UK. However
\nGermany for example extends their code of conduct to all members of the
\nBundestag rather than just their ministers and this includes similarities to
\nthe UK, such reporting any possible conflicts of interest before taking their
\nmembership. <\/p>\n

The
\nmedia is a huge mechanism that contributes towards ministerial overload. There
\nhas been an increase in scrutiny of ministers and their departments, scrutiny
\nconsisting of both the department\u2019s policies and the individual ministers
\nwithin their department. The scrutiny of department\u2019s policies can add unwanted
\npressures onto departments especially in regards to current policies. If a
\ndepartment is part way into making a policy and the media leaks the policy and
\nis found among the electorate to be unpopular this creates add worktime for the
\ndepartment to either amend the policy or completely scrap the policy which may
\nhave taken months to create. E.g. media scrutiny in the UK would be the
\ncampaign to ban micro beads in products. Another example is Australia\u2019s tough
\nimmigration policies especially the story about pictures of refugees throwing
\nchildren over boats into the water. While the media found this not true many
\nministerial staff then attempted to defend the immigration department\u2019s
\npolicies by trying to discredit the media\u2019s claims (Tieran, 2006). Another
\nissue is the rise of personalisation politics and the scrutiny of minister\u2019s
\npersonal lives. This adds pressure because instead of the minister being able
\nto go home or take part in a hobby, they are constantly being investigated and
\nscrutinised by the media for even the slightest wrongdoing, that may result in
\nthem being forced to resign or face being sacked. Ministers are being pressured
\ninto maintaining a respectable image and staffs within their department are
\nincreasingly focussing on handling the media rather than departmental work. <\/p>\n

Pressures of ministerial overload have become an increasing problem not only affecting the efficiency of ministers, departments and whole governments both in the UK and other countries. Uncertainty pressure is hard to offer a solution to because some events are out of minister\u2019s control. However in cases such as Brexit before the referendum the current government could have created contingency plans, by creating a department, hiring extra staff, appointing extra ministers and setting aside money in preparation of the referendum result. The government can\u2019t get rid of the ministerial code and it\u2019s restraints on ministers, this would be highly controversial and subject to intense scrutiny as ministerial power grabbing. In terms of the media the government could pass tighter laws against the media to ensure departmental work isn\u2019t leaked before policies are ready and pass laws restricting the media\u2019s ability to scrutinise individual Ministers personal lives. However this would face intense scrutiny from the media with arguments ranging from freedom of information to accusations of ministers attempting to grab power while silencing critics. Ministerial overload continues to be a problem, however it\u2019s a problem with currently very limited solutions, especially with the current fragile government only holding a slim majority, solutions need to be found and quickly to ensure future governments can work effectively and efficiently<\/p>\n

References<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Knapton.S,(2017) \u2018Microbeads will be banned this year, Michael Gove announces in first speech as Environment Secretary\u2019, The Telegraph<\/em>, Available at: http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/science\/2017\/07\/21\/microbeads-will-banned-year-michael-gove-announces-first-speech\/, ( Accessed 2 November 2017)<\/li>\n
  • Laughrin, D, (2009) \u2018Swimming for Their lives- Waving or Drowning? A review of ministerial overload and of potential remedies for it\u2019, The Political Query, vol. 80, No. 3, Pg. 341, Available at Leeds trinity university library https:\/\/lib.leedstrinity.ac.uk, (Accessed 2 November 2017)<\/li>\n
  • Scunthorpe, T (2017), \u2018Government will hire an extra 8,000 staff and spend \u00a3662 million preparing for a no deal Brexit, David Davis reveals after briefing the Cabinet\u2019 Daily Mail, Available at: http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-5033799\/David-Davis-reveal-No-Deal-Brexit-work.html, (accessed 2 November 2017)<\/li>\n
  • Cabinet office, (2016)\u2019Ministerial Code\u2019, gov.uk, Available at: https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/ministerial-code (accessed 2 November 2017)<\/li>\n
  • Tieran, A, (2006) \u2018OVERBLOWN OR OVERLOAD? MINISTERIAL STAFF AND DILEMMAS OF EXECUTIVE ADVICE\u2019, social alternatives, vol. 25, No. 3, Third quarter Pg. 7, Available at Leeds trinity university library https:\/\/lib.leedstrinity.ac.uk (accessed 2 November 2017<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Case Study Report \u2013 UK Government Ministers \u00a0This case study report will be looking at the role UK ministers play within in the UK political system, background of the role of government ministers, and the problem of ministerial overload associated with government ministers, while also discussing potential solutions Government ministers within the UK political system […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5822],"tags":[9845,5294,9887,9867,9888,9889,9890,9886,9885],"class_list":["post-74921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-1-dissertation-writing-service-in-uk","tag-bishops-writing-bureau","tag-cn","tag-create-a-paper-using-the-following-criteria","tag-homework-help-assignment-answers","tag-in-1050-word-essay","tag-in-a-4-to-6-page-essay","tag-in-a-page-paper-assignment","tag-write-an-essay-in-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colapapers.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}