Ministers to publish government manual in step towards written constitution

Ministers are poised to publish the first ever cabinet manual codifying the rules of Westminster government, in what the head of the home civil service today said could provide a "starting point" for a written constitution. Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, told MPs that he had passed a draft version of the document to the home affairs cabinet committee, which is chaired by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. They are likely to publish it within six weeks. O'Donnell stressed that he was not aiming to produce a blueprint for Britain's first ever written constitution or advocating introducing one, but added that if there was a political decision to introduce one the cabinet manual might be the start of it. The Liberal Democrats backed the introduction of a written constitution in their election manifesto, while the Conservatives only noted that the UK was unusual in Europe in not having a written constitution, instead supporting the introduction of a British bill of rights to supersede the European convention on human rights. There was no mention of a written constitution in the coalition agreement. The document will set out how the principles of cabinet responsibility work in practice, how governments are formed, and the relationship with civil servants, drawing together existing rules and conventions. O'Donnell published a draft chapter about government formation before the election, setting out what would happen in the event of a hung parliament. The document was criticised for confirming the convention that Gordon Brown should remain as prime minister until a viable coalition had been formed. After the event it was widely recognised to have established the process by which the government was formed in five days, while calming jittery markets. O'Donnell said: "I absolutely have no view about the merits of a written constitution. Let me be absolutely clear about this. But it's certainly true that if you were working towards such a thing then bringing together existing rules and conventions in one place ... people may start with it but not end with it." Graham Allen, the Labour chair of the committee, told O'Donnell: "If we don't have a written constitution this is as close as we're likely to get. It's not satisfactory not to have this in the public domain." O'Donnell replied: "I share your view that this is an important document. What I did was get that chapter out before the election. I'm very pleased we did because during the election various constitutional experts popped up and there was a great deal of clarity about it. "I think there will be great advantages of having a cabinet manual; it's for others to say whether they want to turn that into a written constitution." He said the document was now "owned" by the cabinet and it was their decision when to publish it, but it was his hope that it would happen before the end of the year. The document will be scrutinised in parliament and cabinet and revised, particularly in light of the passing of the fixed term parliaments bill. It could establish a firm etiquette for a date for civil servants to have contact with opposition parties now that elections will be fixed. O'Donnell also said he believed there ought to be greater clarification of the rules covering the sitting government during election periods and when governments are being formed, particularly if hung parliaments become more common. This would replace the so-called "purdah" rules, which prevent the government making major decisions while an election is happening, with a new "caretaker" role, which could last until the new government is in place providing greater clarity over what that caretaker government could do. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "The committee manual is an important step, an important document. What it does is explain the relevant legislation and relevant conventions on various big government matters. What we are doing is publishing this document to give clarity about people's roles. "If one wanted to write a written constitution it would be useful to have this document as a starting point. That's not what this document is or why we've done it, but it could be seen as this and we recognise that." What the manual will cover • Elections and government formation • The sovereign and the privy council • The prime minister and ministers • Collective cabinet decision-making • Ministers and parliament • Ministers and the law • Ministers and the civil service • Relations with devolved administrations and local government • Relations with the EU and international institutions • Official information • Government finance and expenditure