Contributions
1,452 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I welcome that intervention and the whole purpose of this legislation is to ensure exactly that. Obviously, there will be guidance in the codes of ethics that are produced, and…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank both hon. Members for tabling the amendments in this group; I will respond to each in turn. First, amendment 28 would require there to be a standard template for a code of…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I totally agree with my hon. Friend and that is exactly why the Bill is so important and integral. We have all heard the stories—the reality—of what the families, the bereaved and…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I am happy to do that.02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I will happily come back to the hon. Gentleman. Say, for example, that someone in the police force believes that a colleague is not acting in accordance with the code of ethics,…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East for tabling amendments 18 to 20, which would require public officials and authorities to notify and provide…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising an important issue. Amendment 43 would, as he states, make authorities set expectations for staff on how to retain and disclose their…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I am happy to discuss our broader work on this and how we move forward on whistleblowers with the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Wells and Mendip Hills outside the…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I welcome the withdrawal of the amendments. We had a discussion earlier about why we have not listed organisations in the Bill. We did not want it to be an exhaustive list and to…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)Yes, of course. I have mentioned the covid-19 inquiry—it would have been impractical for every single worker to come forward to an inquiry—but I add that the chair of an inquiry…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I am happy to clarify both those points, and I assure the hon. Lady that they are captured in this part of the Bill. “Public official” is defined in schedule 2 as all of those who…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I agree. I am committed to working with hon. Members on a way forward. On the point made by the hon. Member for Wells and Mendip Hills about what happens if the head office is…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I am happy to pick up both those points. On the first point, I will work with the hon. Lady to ensure that we find a way forward in terms of ensuring that there is no unintended…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I sincerely thank my hon. Friend for his amendment, which seeks to lower the mental standard threshold from intent to include recklessness for the purposes of the offence of…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)If there had been an investigation or inquiry into that then, yes, it would. Subcontractors are one or more stages removed. They are responsible to the main or another contractor.…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I genuinely do not think that we have crossed wires here. The intention of the Bill is the same as that of the amendments; it is just about how we are doing this. Our approach…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I totally agree. I am absolutely reassured that the Bill, as drafted, does just that. It ensures that there is criminal liability on the head of a public authority to ensure that…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I thank all hon. Members for tabling these amendments and for today’s debate. As we heard on Thursday, command responsibility is a priority for change and accountability, and I…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I welcome that intervention. As I have stated, if there was a statutory health and safety obligation in connection with an incident under investigation, then, yes, those…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)Yes, I can confirm that. Those provisions of the Bill contain a power to allow the definition to also be extended by secondary legislation to private companies that exercise…02 Dec 2025