Delay over manual for constitution

Ministers are delaying the publication of a draft manual on the workings of government that could provide a starting point for a written constitution, says the head of the civil service.

By The Newsroom

Published 5th Nov 2010, 10:20 BST

Updated 5th Nov 2010, 10:20 BST

Amid criticism that the Government was preventing scrutiny of the "extremely important" document, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell said yesterday he wanted it released "by the end of the year".

But he added the release date for the Cabinet Manual was a decision for Ministers and a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by Nick Clegg, deputy Prime Minister and MP for Sheffield Hallam, wanted more time to consider it.

Pulling together existing laws and conventions about how the Cabinet works, it was drawn up by civil servants on the orders of then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Sir Gus said a principal reason for the delay was the desire to reflect forthcoming legislation introducing fixed term parliaments.

Gordon Brown Government