PM Announces Accountability Measures

The Government is to implement several accountability measures for the political directorate.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who made the announcement during a press conference held on Monday (May 22), informed that written job descriptions for Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers are already in place and will be tabled in Parliament shortly.

“Those were done in 2021… . We will table those so the public can see what the job entails,” Mr. Holness said.

He further informed that a code of ethics to govern the conduct and duties of MPs has been developed.

“The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Reform… were tasked to do that. They completed that late last year and they have now submitted that to me, and at the next Cabinet we will review it and turn it over to Parliament to review it,” Mr. Holness said.

“They may want to make some adjustments, or they may accept it as it is, and then that code of conduct will be in force,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister also informed that financial penalties are to be instituted for unexcused absences from sittings of Parliament and committee meetings.

“That is a serious measure. So, MPs are getting more pay and if they do not turn up, their pay will be docked. So, that will be implemented right away. Each MP will have to provide a written accountability report to Parliament detailing activities undertaken and highlighting achievements in their constituency,” Mr. Holness said.

He noted, further, that while MPs use the State of the Constituency debate to outline work undertaken in constituencies, “what we will do is set up a more systematic approach to it, and they will actually table their reports and it will be reviewed by… a committee of Parliament, and the public obviously can review that”.

Special courses of training will also be designed for MPs and Senators.

“They must complete a certain number of hours… and become parliamentary-certified in the practice of parliamentary affairs. The first will be in parliamentary procedures and practices and in our Standing Orders,” Mr. Holness said.

Ministers will also begin to publish, at the beginning of each financial year starting 2024, the policy, administrative and legislative priorities, along with targets and performance indicators that they intend to achieve during the fiscal year.

This will be in the form of a ministry paper, after approval by the Prime Minister.

“Now, when we make these accountability measures, we have to be cognisant of how they change the nature of our parliamentary government. Cabinet has a fundamental principle of collective responsibility, so the action of one member is the responsibility, technically, of all members,” Mr. Holness said.

“Dividing it up like this will bring individual pressures, and it might change certain dynamics, but I think it is necessary to bring the public to a point where they can have confidence that the cover of collective responsibility is not being taken advantage of, and that some ministers are working and others are not,” he argued.

The Prime Minister noted that each year before the Budget, the Cabinet goes on retreat, and each Minister declares what their priorities are, which he monitors and manages.

“But now, I will have the help of the public in monitoring and managing what the Ministers commit to do, in addition to what I give as directions to be done,” he noted.