DOCSLIB.ORG

New Arrangements for the Roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
New Arrangements for the Roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary Nineteenth Report of Session 2010-12 Report and Appendix, together with formal minutes and oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 17 January 2012 HC 1582 Published on 20 January 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £17.50 The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) The Public Administration Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by civil service departments, and other matters relating to the civil service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Michael Dugher MP (Labour, Barnsley East) Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative, Dover) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West) Priti Patel MP (Conservative, Witham) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) The following member was also a member of the Committee during the inquiry: Nick de Bois MP (Conservative, Enfield North) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 146. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at http://www.parliament.uk/pasc. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Martyn Atkins (Clerk), Charlotte Pochin (Second Clerk), Alexandra Meakin (Committee Specialist), Paul Simpkin (Senior Committee Assistant) and Su Panchanathan (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Public Administration Select Committee, Committee Office, First Floor, 7 Millbank, House of Commons, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5730; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 The combined role of Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service 7 The role of Parliament in changes to Civil Service structures 9 3 Implications for the Head of the Civil Service and for the Civil Service 10 The proposed arrangements 12 Access to the Prime Minister 15 4 Time commitment of the Head of the Civil Service 18 A full-time Head of the Civil Service? 22 5 Leadership at the top of the Civil Service 26 Lines of accountability for Permanent Secretaries 26 Effect on Civil Service reform 30 Staffing and offices for the new Head of the Civil Service. 33 The role of Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office 34 6 Conclusion 36 Conclusions and recommendations 38 Appendix 1: Letter from Sir Bob Kerslake to Mr Bernard Jenkin MP, Chair of PASC 43 Formal Minutes 45 Witnesses 46 List of printed written evidence 46 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 47 Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary 3 Summary The Civil Service faces a period of radical change as it strives to meet the Government’s objectives to devolve power out to communities and citizens, and to reduce costs. We have identified leadership as one of the key principles for achieving this transformation within Whitehall, and the retirement of Sir Gus (now Lord) O'Donnell as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service has made timely a consideration of how the Civil Service should be managed. Whilst this report is mainly concerned with the Civil Service, we recognise that changes in the governance of the Civil Service can have implications for the much wider role of the Cabinet Secretary, who is concerned with the totality of government. This we shall monitor and return to, if necessary, in due course. We have sought to consider what form the leadership at the top of the Civil Service should take to implement a change programme across Whitehall, to break down departmental silos and overcome bureaucratic inertia. Our work on Civil Service reform has shown that the size of this task should not be underestimated. The Government proposed dividing Sir Gus O'Donnell’s role into three separate posts: Head of the Civil Service, Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office. Sir Bob Kerslake, Sir Jeremy Heywood and Ian Watmore have been appointed to these posts respectively. Sir Bob will have direct responsibility for Civil Service reform, with Mr Watmore reporting to him. We are concerned that this could lead to weaker leadership and disperse power at a critical time of change in government. The Civil Service needs to have clear and effective leadership and a strong reforming head to make the necessary changes. We are disturbed that all four surviving former Cabinet Secretaries have expressed deep reservations. We therefore believe it would be right for the Government to monitor these changes and review their effectiveness in due course. Sir Bob Kerslake has been given the responsibility of leading the Government’s reform programme in Whitehall. To achieve this, the Head of the Civil Service must have the seniority and access to the Prime Minister to fulfil the essential role of speaking truth unto power. As one of the checks and balances on executive power, the Civil Service, through its head figure, must have parity of status with the Cabinet Secretary. We have recommended that the Head of the Civil Service regularly meet the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, and should as a matter of course attend Cabinet, and be placed at the Cabinet table on an equal footing with the Cabinet Secretary. We hope that Sir Bob Kerslake’s appointment will be a success and that the new structure will be made to work effectively. However the risk of unequal status with the Cabinet Secretary, and limited access to the Prime Minister remain a concern. While the evidence 4 Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary from Sir Bob Kerslake was persuasive on these points, we will monitor closely how this post works in practice, and we recommend a full review of the new structure by July 2012. We are also not convinced that the role of Head of the Civil Service can be combined with that of a permanent secretary in a major government department. The demands on Sir Bob Kerslake by the Head of the Civil Service role are extensive. In practice there is a strong case for a full-time Head of the Civil Service. We found that the Head of the Civil Service role has grown substantially since the posts of Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service were combined in the early 1980s. While the post has always been held as a part- time role, in conjunction with another senior Civil Service post, the transformational change required and the challenges facing the Civil Service are of such magnitude that it is necessary to consider whether what has served in the past is suitable for the future. We have recommended that the July 2012 review we propose should also assess whether a full-time Head of the Civil Service is required, and whether it would be appropriate to combine the roles of Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office and Head of the Civil Service in one post. This would place responsibility for Civil Service reform solely with one individual in the stronger centre of government which we consider is needed to drive Civil Service reform. Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary 5 1 Introduction 1. The Civil Service is one of the United Kingdom’s great institutions. It is not merely the administrative function of government: it is one of the vital checks and balances in the UK’s largely unwritten constitution. Its impartiality and objectivity are supposed to be its hallmark. Senior civil servants are responsible for advising Ministers on appropriate procedures and legal and ethical practices. They must be independent enough to speak truth to power. No two roles are more important in this respect than those of the Cabinet Secretary and the Head of the Civil Service, roles which have in recent years been vested in one person. 2. The retirement of the Head of the Civil Service and Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus (now Lord) O’Donnell, was announced on 11 October 2011.1 On the same date, significant changes to the staffing at the top of the Civil Service were announced. Whilst this paper deals mainly with those changes we recognise that they could impact on the wider role of the Cabinet Secretary, who is concerned with the totality of government. This we shall monitor and review in due course. 3. Sir Gus retired on 31 December and has been succeeded as Cabinet Secretary, but not as Head of the Civil Service, by Sir Jeremy Heywood, formerly Permanent Secretary at 10 Downing Street.2 Sir Bob Kerslake has been appointed Head of the Civil Service, a post he will hold in conjunction with his current post, that of Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Constitution Unit Monitor 63 / June 2016
    1 Constitution Unit Monitor 63 / June 2016 In addition, important questions relate to the referendum The EU referendum: process itself. Democracy requires that referendums be conducted fairly, but the rules surrounding referendums in a fair process? the UK remain deeply contested. As reported in Monitor 61 (page 12) and 62 (page 11), the legislation enabling the The forthcoming referendum on whether the UK referendum passed through parliament last year amidst should remain a member of the European Union or leave much controversy and only after multiple government – to be held on 23 June – has raised many important concessions. Since David Cameron announced the date constitutional questions. of the vote on 20 February, five important aspects of referendum conduct have received particular attention. In part, these concern the implications that a vote for Brexit would have for the constitution and the First, in line with the Prime Minister’s announcement distribution of power in the UK and the EU. As reported in January, ministers have been allowed to campaign elsewhere in this edition of Monitor, these issues have against the government’s position of supporting a been addressed in a series of Constitution Unit seminars vote to remain in the EU. Five full members of cabinet and briefing papers in recent weeks (see page 14). The have done so (one of whom – Iain Duncan Smith – has briefing papers, as well as videos of the seminars, are subsequently resigned), as have a number of junior available online. The process of Brexit has also been ministers. This is only the third time that ministers examined in detail on the Constitution Unit blog by from the same party have been allowed to disagree so Alan Renwick.
    [Show full text]
  • Alan Rusbridger the Guardian, Friday 20 December 2013 07.50 AEST
    Alan Rusbridger The Guardian, Friday 20 December 2013 07.50 AEST Jump to comments (378) What a relief. It is, after all, possible to discuss the operations of modern intelligence agencies without having to prove one's patriotism, be turned over by the police, summoned by politicians or visited by state- employed technicians with instructions to smash up one's computers. The 300-page report into the Guardian's revelations about the US National Security Agency commissioned by President Obama and published this week is wide-ranging, informed and thoughtful. It leaps beyond the timid privacy-versus-national security platitudes which have stifled so much of the debate in the UK. It doesn't blame journalism for dragging the subject into the open: it celebrates it. The five authors of the report are not hand-wringing liberals. They number one former CIA deputy director; a counter-terrorism adviser to George W Bush and his father; two former White House advisers; and a former dean of the Chicago law school. Not what the British prime minister would call "airy-fairy lah-di-dah" types. Six months ago the British cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, was in the Guardian's London office telling us there had been "enough" debate on the matter of what intelligence agencies got up to. But here are Obama's experts revelling in the debate; exploring the tensions between privacy and national security, yes – but going much further, discussing cryptology; civil liberties; the right of citizens and governments to be informed; relationships with other countries; and the potential damage that unconstrained espionage can cause to trade, commerce and the digital economy.
    [Show full text]
  • Megaphone Bureaucracy: Speaking Truth To
    © Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher. 1 Introduction FINDING VOICE Is politics broken? The dramatic events of the past decade have left many commentators convinced that there is something decidedly abnormal going on. A series of shocks— both economic and geopolitical— have combined to generate a ‘perfect storm’ of popular disquiet with democratically elected leaders around much of the world. First, the global financial crisis of the late noughties stung the world economy. Trailing in its wake has been a gradual but cumulatively dramatic increase in wealth inequality. Works such as Thomas Piketty’sCapital in the Twenty- First Century have struck an unexpectedly deep popular chord with people convinced that the financial bargain between elites and the rest is no longer holding. Over the same period, the long civil war in Syria and continued unrest in north Africa has fuelled new waves of refugees desperately striving to find safety in Europe. Their arrival has added to popular disquiet about immigra- tion levels across the continent, triggering intense public debate about their impact on the social and economic life of the EU and its constituent nations. That disquiet has blended with new fears about security to create a more hostile environment towards immigrants than Europe has seen at any time since World War Two. Irregular but not infrequent terrorist attacks have added to the nervousness that perhaps nation states are not able to keep 1 For general queries, contact [email protected] © Copyright, Princeton University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Economics Annual Review 2018-2019
    ECONOMICS REVIEW 2018/19 CELEBRATING FIRST EXCELLENCE AT YEAR LSE ECONOMICS CHALLENGE Faculty Interviews ALUMNI NEW PANEL APPOINTMENTS & VISITORS RESEARCH CENTRE BRIEFINGS 1 CONTENTS 2 OUR STUDENTS 3 OUR FACULTY 4 RESEARCH UPDATES 5 OUR ALUMNI 2 WELCOME TO THE 2018/19 EDITION OF THE ECONOMICS ANNUAL REVIEW This has been my first year as Head of the outstanding contributions to macroeconomics and Department of Economics and I am proud finance) and received a BA Global Professorship, will and honoured to be at the helm of such a be a Professor of Economics. John will be a School distinguished department. The Department Professor and Ronald Coase Chair in Economics. remains world-leading in education and research, Our research prowess was particularly visible in the May 2019 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and many efforts are underway to make further one of the top journals in the profession: the first four improvements. papers out of ten in that issue are co-authored by current colleagues in the Department and two more by We continue to attract an extremely talented pool of our former PhD students Dave Donaldson and Rocco students from a large number of applicants to all our Macchiavello. Rocco is now in the LSE Department programmes and to place our students in the most of Management, as is Noam Yuchtman, who published sought-after jobs. This year, our newly-minted PhD another paper in the same issue. This highlights how student Clare Balboni made us particularly proud by the strength of economics is growing throughout LSE, landing a job as Assistant Professor at MIT, one of the reinforcing our links to other departments as a result.
    [Show full text]
  • Simon Briscoe [email protected]
    1 Horse Guards Road T +44 (0)20 7276 2294 London [email protected] SW1A 2HQ www.cabinet office.gov.uk Simon Briscoe [email protected] FOI Reference: FOI321902 09/11/2015 Dear Simon Briscoe I refer to your request where you asked: “Please can you send me all the information that was put in the public domain about the recruitment of the current and four previous National Statisticians. The information to include but not be limited to the advertisement(s) and applicants pack, and all allied press releases and similar announcements regarding the process including the announcement of the successful applicant. Please include any announcements of reappointments. Please also set out the members of the interview panels. If any of this information is on a webpage, please supply the link.” I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that some of the information you requested is held by the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office have retained some of the information you requested and this is from the last two National Statistician appointments in 2014 and 2009. We do not routinely retain information any further back the last competition held. Of the information requested we hold the advert placed on the Civil Service website and the candidate brief and job description from the 2014 competition (both attached). The composition of the panel was: ● Sir David Normington, First CS Commissioner ● Sir Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary ● Sir Andrew Dilnot, Chair
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons for Civil Service Impartiality from the Scottish Independence Referendum
    House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Lessons for Civil Service impartiality from the Scottish independence referendum Fifth Report of Session 2014–15 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 17 March 2015 HC 111 Published on 23 March 2015 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Public Administration Select Committee The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by Civil Service departments, and other matters relating to the Civil Service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Mr Nigel Evans MP (Conservative, Ribble Valley) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Mrs Cheryl Gillan MP (Conservative, Chesham and Amersham) Sheila Gilmore MP (Labour, Edinburgh East) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Mr Adam Holloway MP (Conservative, Gravesham) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) Mr Andrew Turner MP (Conservative, Isle of Wight) The following Members were also Members of the Committee during part of the inquiry: Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) Priti Patel MP (Conservative, Witham) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152.
    [Show full text]
  • Consolidated Fund Account 2011-12 HC 443, Session 2012-2013
    Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 21(1) of the National Loans Act 1968 Consolidated Fund Account 2011-12 LONDON: The Stationery Office HC 443 £10.75 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 21(1) of the National Loans Act 1968 Consolidated Fund Account 2011-12 ORDERED BY THE HOUSE OF COMMONS TO BE PRINTED ON 16 JULY 2012 LONDON: The Stationery Office 16 July 2012 HC 443 £10.75 The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending on behalf of Parliament. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, is an Officer of the House of Commons. He is the head of the NAO, which employs some 880 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of government. He certifies the accounts of all government departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources. Our work led to savings and other efficiency gains worth more than £1 billion in 2010-11. © Crown copyright 2012 You may reuse this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or email [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available for download at www.official-documents.gov.uk. ISBN: 9780102970678 Printed
    [Show full text]
  • Westminster Abbey the WHITEHALL CAROL SERVICE
    Westminster Abbey THE WHITEHALL CAROL SERVICE Wednesday 19th December 2012 6.30 pm CHRISTIANS IN GOVERNMENT UK Christians in Government UK is a staff network for Christians working in national Government departments and agencies in the UK. The network has been running the annual Whitehall Carol Service and other events for civil servants since 1999, having taken over the role of supporting Christians in the civil service from the Civil Service Christian Union. We have raised more than £27,000 for charity since 1999. For more information, including how to become involved in departmental Christian groups, please visit www.christiansingovernment.org.uk. ALPHA Christians in Government will be running an Alpha course on Wednesday lunchtimes in Methodist Central Hall Westminster, starting on 16th January 2013. The Alpha course is open to anyone interested in hearing more about the Christian faith. Please visit the above website or email [email protected] for more details. 2 Members of the congregation are kindly requested to refrain from using private cameras, video, or sound recording equipment. Please ensure that mobile phones, pagers, and other electronic devices are switched off. The Abbey is served by a hearing loop. Users should turn their hearing aid to the setting marked T. The service is conducted by The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. The service is sung by the Westminster Abbey Special Service Choir, conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers. The organ is played by Martin Ford, Assistant Organist. Fanfare Trumpeters from the Band of the Grenadier Guards are under the direction of Captain M Smith.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship of the Home Office and the Ministry Of
    THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE HOME OFFICE AND THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR WITH THE TREASURY ESTABLISHMENT DIVISION 1919-1946 AN EVALUATION OF CONTRASTING NEEDS NORMAN GEORGE PRICE Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD London School of Economics (University of London) 1 UMI Number: U042642 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U042642 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 t h e s e s F 68 nu-oaaiS ABSTRACT The thesis examines three Departments of the British Home Civil Service from 1919 to 1946: the Home Office, the Ministry of Labour and the Treasury Establishment Division. The study investigates the contrasting needs, in establishment terms, of an old "Secretary of State" department the Home Office, performing a largely regulatory role, with a new department the Ministry of Labour performing an administrative role, and the relationship of both over establishment matters with the Treasury. The study assesses the roles of individual Administrative Class civil servants in the three departments from the rank of Principal to Permanent Secretary: with particular reference to the relationships existing between the Permanent Secretaries of the two departments and the Permanent Secretaries of the Treasury and their Controllers of Establishments.
    [Show full text]
  • Unclassified Unclassified
    UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Evidence Number Name E23 Pagoda PR E24 Paul Flynn MP E25 PCRC (Political and Constitutional Reform Committee) E26 PLMR (Political Lobbying and Media Relations Ltd) E27 Political Intelligence E28 PRCA (Public Relations Consultants Association) E29 Ranelagh International Ltd E30 Rowan Public Affairs E31 (SPA) Society of Parliamentary Agents E32 (TPA) TaxPayers’ Alliance E33 Transparency International UK E34 UKPAC E35 Unlock Democracy E36 William Dinan and David Miller UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED E23: Pagoda PR 1. Is there any reason to think that lobbying per se is a problem; and is there any evidence that abuse of lobbying is widespread or systemic, as opposed to exceptional behaviour by a few? Not in itself, although recent evidence would indicate that some parliamentarians may be susceptible to influence on the basis of inappropriate inducements. This does, as the paper suggests, damage the reputation of lobbying and parliamentary engagement more widely. In this respect, there is a risk that efforts to encourage more lobbying/campaigning from wider sections of society – especially young people – are undermined. We need to proactively promote the positive achievements of lobbying if we are to secure the confidence and participation of the next generation, who will otherwise view Parliament with cynicism. Politicians could do more to say when they have been persuaded by well run, well evidenced and transparent lobbying campaigns. 2. How wide should the definition of lobbying be? What activities should be excluded from the definition? This is extremely difficult because the current definitions rely on determining an attempt to ‘influence’. In many cases such intent is very difficult to determine.
    [Show full text]
  • House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Future of the Civil Service
    House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Future of the Civil Service Written Evidence List of written evidence 1. The Universities of Birmingham and Sheffield ‘Shrinking the State’ ESRC Research Project (CSR 1) 2. Dr Andrew Blick, Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies, King’s College London (CSR 2) 3. Prospect (CSR 3) 4. Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) (CSR 4) 5. Institute for Government (CSR 5) 6. First Division Association (FDA) (CSR 6) 7. Project Management Institute (CSR 7) 8. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) (CSR 8) 9. Cabinet Office (CSR 9) 10. Martin Surr (CSR 10) 11. Mr Patrick Diamond, Professor David Richards and Professor Martin Smith (CSR 11) 12. Dr Suzy Walton (CSR 12) 13. Sir John Elvidge (CSR 13) 14. Mark Balchin (CSR 14) 15. Professor Howard Elcock (CSR 15) 16. Dr Chris Gibson-Smith (CSR 16) 17. Dr Ruth Levitt and William Solesbury, Visiting Senior Research Fellows, Dept of Political Economy, King's College London (CSR 17) 18. D H Owen (CSR 18) 19. Philip Virgo (CSR 19) 20. Active Operations Management International LLP (CSR 20) 21. Association for Project Management (CSR 21) 22. Additional evidence from FDA (CSR 22) 23. Dr John Parkinson, The University of Warwick (CSR 23) 24. Civil Service Commission (CSR 24) 25. Professor Matthew Flinders (University of Sheffield), Professor Chris Skelcher (University of Birmingham), Dr. Katharine Dommett (University of Sheffield) & Dr Katherine Tonkiss (University of Birmingham) (CSR 25) 26. Professor the Lord Norton of Louth (CSR 26) 27. Rt Hon Jack Straw MP (CSR 27) 28. Civil Service Commission (CSR 28) 29.
    [Show full text]
  • Monitor 52 Constitution Unit Newsletter | October 2012
    Monitor 52 Constitution Unit Newsletter | October 2012 Lords reform: dead, or just resting? The biggest constitutional news of recent months was the dramatic for further reform. In the end, however, only a government bill is collapse of the government’s proposals for House of Lords reform. likely to succeed, which means that Nick Clegg must be persuaded Following the publication of the draft bill, and discussions by a of the merits. He presently looks unconvinced, but has emphasised parliamentary joint committee (see Monitor 51) a bill was formally repeatedly in the past that Lords reformers must not ‘make the best introduced into the Commons in late June, and had its second reading of the enemy of the good’. Now he needs to decide whether this was on 9-10 July. Its principle was approved comfortably, by 462 votes more than rhetoric. to 124. Nonetheless in August Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced at a specially-convened press conference that the bill had been dropped. He confirmed this in a Commons statement on EXECUTIVE 3 September. For seasoned Lords reform watchers these events were no surprise. It was always clear that the Conservatives were lukewarm on Lords reform, David Cameron having told supporters before the election that Civil Service reform: radical change it was a ‘third term issue’. Previous Commons votes on the subject had shown the Conservatives, like Labour, to be very split. As it turned In June 2012, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, published out, while Cameron had pledged his support to Clegg for the reform, his civil service reform plan.
    [Show full text]