Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022

Ministerial Code of Conduct

5 Ministerial Code of Conduct

(1) In Part 2 of Schedule 4 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (code of conduct), for paragraph 1 substitute—

“1 (1) Ministers must at all times—

(a) maintain the highest standards of conduct and behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety;

(b) be accountable to the Assembly and the public for the decisions and actions of their departments and agencies, including stewardship of public funds and the extent to which key performance targets and objects have been met;

(c) uphold the Nolan principles;

(d) comply with this code and with rules relating to the use of public funds;

(e) operate in a way that is conducive to promoting good community relations and equality of opportunity, treating all those with whom they come into contact with consideration and respect;

(f) ensure that no conflict arises, or could be reasonably perceived to arise, between Ministers’ public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise, and comply with rules concerning conflicts of interest;

(g) refrain from using information gained in the course of their service for personal gain and from using the opportunity of public service to promote their private interests;

(h) ensure that official resources are not used for party political purposes;

(i) comply with rules regarding the management of official information;

(j) comply with rules on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality;

(k) uphold the political impartiality of the civil service, not asking civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the Northern Ireland Civil Service Code of Ethics;

(l) make civil service and public appointments in accordance with relevant legislation and relevant recruitment codes; and ensure that the rules on management and conduct of special advisers, including discipline, are complied with.

(2) “The Nolan principles” means the seven general principles of public life set out in the First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (Cm 2850) as revised or replaced from time to time.”

(2) In relation to a person holding office as a Minister or junior Minister immediately before the amendments made by this section come into force, the reference in that person’s pledge of office to complying with the Ministerial Code of Conduct is to be taken to include a pledge to comply with the amended Ministerial Code of Conduct from the time when those amendments come into force.

(3) In subsection (2)—

• “junior Minister” means a person appointed as a junior Minister in accordance with section 19 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;

• “Minister” has the meaning given by section 7(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.