On the blog entry - Senior Responsible Owner, a good idea subverted - a reader makes this excellent comment:
"Responsibility is a unique concept: It can only reside and inhere in a single individual. You may share it with others but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it but it is still with you. Even if you do not recognise it or admit its presence, you cannot escape it. If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance, or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man responsible when something goes wrong then you never had anyone really responsible. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. "Radiation Safety and Regulation" 87th Congress 1st Session (Washington GPO 1961) p366 Adm HG Rickover."
It's a reminder that in central govermment in the UK the idea of senior responsible owner often means little because the role is taken by people who weren't involved in the decision to go ahead with the project and who probably leave before it's completed.