Contributions
1,452 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPublic 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)There are two versions of the duty of candour: the always-on duty of candour by which every public servant should have to act in their everyday life, and the duty of candour with…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the hon. Gentleman for tabling his amendment. The Government believe it is imperative to have policies and processes in place to enable officials and public servants to…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)The hon. Lady will be aware of the work we are doing on NDAs in the Victims and Courts Bill and the Employment Rights Bill. A lot of work is happening across Government on how we…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)Yes, it is annual.02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)And that is the very confusion the hon. Lady mentioned. If she lets me finish my point, I will give way. Amendment 50, for example, may lead some people who work for a public…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)My right hon. Friend makes a very important point: it is for each individual organisation to determine the policies and procedures for their record keeping. It might be wholly…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)The hon. Lady has pre-empted my next comments. The Bill will ensure that workers who are protected against retaliation by an employer for blowing the whistle about…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I thank hon. Members for raising those important points. In this Bill, we have aimed to ensure candour while protecting national security. As it stands, inquiries and…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I beg to move amendment 8, in schedule 1, page 30, line 33, after “of the” insert “senior”. This is a drafting refinement.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 (Third sitting)I thank hon. Members for a useful debate getting into the detail the provisions—that is why we have Bill Committees. It would be beneficial for me to clarify exactly how the Bill…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)I believe that I stated this earlier, but should an official inquiry or investigation be called, the head of the OBR, who has now resigned, or the head of any organisation—we are…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 (Fourth sitting)I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for tabling these amendments. As we all heard last Thursday, true cultural change is a key part of implementing the Hillsborough law, and the…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)He will be part of the discussion.02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Fourth sitting)We talk about focusing minds. The Bill will clearly focus minds, because a chief executive can face criminal prosecution and potentially prison if they are not candid, if they…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)As I stated previously, the Government have committed to only strengthening this Bill as it moves through Parliament. That is exactly what this group of amendments does. Before I…02 Dec 2025HANSARDPublic Office (Accountability) Bill (Third sitting)I beg to move amendment 6, in schedule 1, page 27, line 29, after “applies” insert “by virtue of this paragraph”. This amendment is consequential on amendment 7.02 Dec 2025