Contributions
860 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI concur. I fear that the Leader of the Opposition, in making this appointment, perhaps blundered in his approach and did not really realise or think through the consequences of…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI thank my hon. Friend. I think it may well have been a miscalculation by the Leader of the Opposition. He can do his best to rescue that by being fully open about the facts.06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityHaving heard from the right hon. Lady, I see that she has clearly been advised that attack is the best form of defence. I quite understand why the Opposition feel in need of some…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that. I share his disappointment; whatever the merits of the individual, I stress that it is critical that we all, on both sides of…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI can confirm that, following a media report the previous day, Sue Gray, formerly second permanent secretary to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and to the…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityAs my hon. Friend will appreciate, I am in no position to know whether there is a contract, either oral or written, between Sue Gray and the Labour party. Nor am I in any position…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityAs I have said, there is work in progress to ensure that all the facts are identified, but I am not aware that there were any such discussions prior to Thursday last week.06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI am deliberately not getting drawn into matters related to individuals, nor should I. I am happy to be drawn on whether there is a right way of making this kind of appointment.…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThe anti-corruption strategy is run by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Security; I know he works actively on that, and an anti-corruption champion will be appointed in due…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThat would help. I have been pondering the earlier question about the efficacy of people moving from the civil service into party political roles. Clearly that cannot be deemed an…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend raises a fair question, but it is one that we need to explore, given the questions that we are now asking about the timeline towards the resignation of Sue Gray. As…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend is correct. Clearly, Sue Gray has access to a lot of information, but that does not mean she would put that information to ill use. The ACOBA guidelines talk about…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI believe that transparency would help. It is important that processes are followed, because this is an unprecedented appointment, and in those circumstances, it is not too much…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThe right hon. Gentleman puts it rather well. It would be very simple to help put minds at rest by publishing the data, setting out when the meetings took place—who met whom, when…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI very much agree that those questions need to be answered by Opposition Members.06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI am grateful to my hon. Friend. There are rules in place. As I have already said, there is a means by which civil servants who choose to leave the world of the civil service—and…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityTo be clear, we on the Government Benches have no desire or intention whatsoever to attack civil servants. We want to protect the impartiality of the civil service, and protect it…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend has expressed his view in his own style. He knows me and will know that my style is to say I am going to await the conclusions that come out of the factual inquiry…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityOn my hon. Friend’s most important point, I absolutely back him up on the standards of the civil service. We are lucky and fortunate to have good people working throughout the…06 Mar 2023HANSARDPublic Sector Contracts: FraudLast year we established the Public Sector Fraud Authority as a centre of excellence to work with Departments and public bodies to understand and reduce the impact of fraud. It…02 Feb 2023