House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration Formal Minutes of the Committee Session 2013-14 Formal Minutes of the Select Committee on Public Administration, Session 2013-14 MONDAY 13 MAY 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Alun Cairns Paul Flynn Charlie Elphicke Priti Patel Robert Halfon Steve Reed 1. The Future of the Civil Service Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to The Future of the Civil Service be reported to the House for publication on the internet: CSR 31 [Derek Jones, Permanent Secretary, Welsh Government] 2. Regulation of the Charitable Sector and the Charities Act 2006 Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Regulation of the Charitable Sector and the Charities Act 2006 be reported to the House for publication on the internet: CH 192 [Supplementary evidence from the Charity Commission] 3. Migration statistics Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Migration statistics be reported to the House for publication on the internet: 5STATS 13 [Piers Elias, Demography and Modelling Officer, Tees Valley Unlimited] 4. Procurement Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Procurement be reported to the House for publication on the internet: PROC 37 [Supplementary evidence from the Cabinet Office] 5. Public engagement in policy-making The Committee considered this matter. 6. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman The Committee considered this matter. 7. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. 8. The Future of the Civil Service and Procurement The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till 14 May at 9.15 a.m. TUESDAY 14 MAY 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Charlie Elphicke Greg Mulholland Paul Flynn Priti Patel Robert Halfon Steve Reed 1. Regulation of the Charitable Sector and the Charities Act 2006 The Committee considered this matter. 2. The operation of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 Draft Special Report (Public Trust in Government Statistics: A review of the operation of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007: Responses to the Committee’s Ninth Report of Session 2012-13), proposed by the Chair, brought up, read the first and second time, and agreed to. The Government’s Response to the Ninth Report from the Committee of Session 2012–13 was appended to the Report. The UK Statistics Authority’s Response to the Ninth Report from the Committee of Session 2012–13 was appended to the Report. Resolved, That the Report be the First Special Report of the Committee to the House. Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House. 3. Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 and Supplementary Estimate Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 and Supplementary Estimate be reported to the House for publication on the internet: [Response from Richard Heaton CB, Permanent Secretary and First Parliamentary Counsel to the Committee’s recommendations and questions contained in Mr Bernard Jenkin’s letter of 25 March 2013.] 4. Future programme The Committee considered this matter. [Adjourned till 21 May at 9.15 a.m. TUESDAY 21 MAY 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Paul Flynn Greg Mulholland Robert Halfon Steve Reed Kelvin Hopkins Lindsay Roy 1. Communicating statistics: Not just true but also fair Draft Report (Communicating Statistics: Not just true but also fair), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read. The draft Report was agreed to; the Formal Minutes relating to the consideration of the Report are published with the First Report of the Committee, HC 190. 2. Public engagement in policy-making Draft Report (Public engagement in policy-making), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read. The draft Report was agreed to; the Formal Minutes relating to the consideration of the Report are published with the Second Report of the Committee, HC 75. 3. The role of the Charity Commission and “public benefit”: Post-legislative scrutiny of the Charities Act 2006 Draft Report (The role of the Charity Commission and “public benefit”: Post-legislative scrutiny of the Charities Act 2006), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read. The draft Report was agreed to; the Formal Minutes relating to the consideration of the Report are published with the Third Report of the Committee, HC 76. 4. The Future of the Civil Service Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to The Future of the Civil Service be reported to the House for publication on the internet: CSR 32 [Scottish Government] CSR 33 [Universities of Exeter, Cardiff and Kentucky] 5. Procurement Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Procurement be reported to the House for publication on the internet: PROC 38 [Robert Halfon MP] PROC 39 [Lord Levene] 6. Cabinet Office Main Estimate The Committee considered this matter. 7. Committee on Standards in Public Life Resolved, That the Committee call for written evidence on the Triennial Review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) and the role of CSPL in advance of the Committee’s pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s proposed candidate for the Chair of the CSPL. 8. Invitation to conference The Committee considered this matter. 9. Strategic Thinking in Government Ordered, That the Chair have leave to visit Reading in May in a representative capacity to attend a seminar on National Strategy at Reading University. 10. Future programme The Committee considered this matter. 11. Any other business The Committee considered this matter. [Adjourned till 4 June at 9.15 a.m. TUESDAY 4 JUNE 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Charlie Elphicke Greg Mulholland Paul Flynn Mr Steve Reed Kelvin Hopkins Lindsay Roy 1. Complaints: do they make a difference? Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Complaints: do they make a difference? be reported to the House for publication on the internet: COM 1 [Adam Macleod] COM 2 [W S Beckett] COM 3 [General Medical Council] COM 4 [Brenda Prentice] COM 5 [Blue Flash Music Trust] COM 6 [Local Government Ombudsman] COM 7 [AW&I Tanner] COM 8 [Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford] COM 9 [Local Government Association] COM 10 [Citizens Advice Scotland] COM 11 [Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council] COM 12 [Which?] COM 13 [Social Fund Commissioner] COM 14 [Trevor Buck, Richard Kirkham and Brian Thompson] COM 15 [Centre for Public Scrutiny] COM 16 [Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman] COM 17 [NHS Confederation] COM 18 [Elizabeth Derrington, Jodi Berg and Ros Gardner] COM 19 [Office for Legal Complaints] COM 20 [Della Reynolds] COM 21 [Mrs W Morris] COM 22 [T J Bartlett] COM 23 [C N Rock] COM 24 [Alison Pope] COM 25 [Alan Reid] COM 26 [Janet Treharne Oakley] COM 27 [Simon Cramp] COM 28 [Frank Edohen] COM 29 [Elaine Colville] COM 30 [J Pocock] 2. Future of the Civil Service Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to The Future of the Civil Service be reported to the House for publication on the internet: CSR 34 [Head of the Civil Service] 3. Regulation of the Charitable Sector and the Charities Act 2006 The Committee considered this matter. 4. Procurement The Committee considered this matter. 5. Budgeting for statistics Ordered, That the Chair write to a number of government departments on the topic of budgeting for statistics. 6. Strategic thinking in Government The Committee considered this matter. 7. Future programme The Committee considered this matter. 8. Complaints: do they make a difference? Carol Brennan, Director, Consumer Insight Centre, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, Jo Causon, Chief Executive, Institute of Customer Service, Richard Simmons, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Stirling, and Richard Lloyd, Executive Director, Which? gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till 11 June at 9.15 a.m. TUESDAY 11 JUNE 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Alun Cairns Priti Patel Charlie Elphicke SteveReed Greg Mulholland 1. Complaints Handling: Specialist Adviser Ordered, That Dr Nick O’Brien be appointed a Specialist Adviser to assist the Committee in matters related to complaints handling (for details of declarations of interests, see Appendix.) 2. Complaints Handling: Visit Resolved, That the Committee visit the Netherlands in connection with its inquiry into complaints handling, and that the Chair seek the approval of the Liaison Committee for expenditure in connection with the visit. 3. Complaints Handling: Written evidence Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Complaints: do they make a difference? be reported to the House for publication on the internet: COM 31 [Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions] 4. Future of the Civil Service The Committee considered this matter. 5. Statistics The Committee considered this matter. 6. Future programme The Committee considered this matter. 7. Complaints: do they make a difference? Dame Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; and Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, Mark Grimshaw, Chief Executive, Rural Payments Agency, and Sarah Rapson, Interim Director General, UK Visas and Immigration, Home Office gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till 24 June at 4.30pm MONDAY 24 JUNE 2013 Members present: Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair Robert Halfon Priti Patel Kelvin Hopkins SteveReed 1. Strategic Thinking Draft Report (Engaging the Public in National Strategy), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read. The draft Report was agreed to; the Formal Minutes relating to the consideration of the Report are published with the Fourth Report of the Committee, HC 435. 2. Migration Statistics Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Migration Statistics be reported to the House for publication on the internet: 5STATS 14 [Supplementary written evidence submitted by the UK Statistics Authority] 3. Future programme The Committee considered this matter.