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Royal Assent
Madam Speaker: I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified Her Royal Assent to the following Acts:
Non-Domestic Rating (Information) Act 1996
Reserve Forces Act 1996
National Health Service (Residual Liabilities) Act 1996
Police Act 1996
Industrial Tribunals Act 1996
Mr. David Lidington (Aylesbury):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Is it in order for the House to summon to the Bar a British citizen who is also a European Commissioner, so that we can hold Commissioner Kinnock to account for the way in which he is seeking to undermine our efforts to lift the export ban on British beef?
Madam Speaker:
There is no way in which the action that the hon. Gentleman suggests can take place.
Mr. Keith Mans (Wyre):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I seek your guidance on an event that took place during Question Time this afternoon. When the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) asked a question, I clearly saw the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) standing next to your Chair to check on what the hon. Gentleman said. When, for once, the hon. Member for Oldham, West seemed to be in tune with new Labour, the hon. Member for Hartlepool slipped out without having the courtesy to listen to the Minister's reply. Is that in order?
Madam Speaker:
I can see that it is time that the House went into recess and we all went home.
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Has any advance been made on the balance of education and employment questions? I know that the matter has been raised on previous occasions, but the imbalance between education and employment--and even within education--is apparent. For example, we had no opportunity today to talk about higher education, a vital part of the future of this country, which has suffered massive cuts in its budget which are affecting universities.
Madam Speaker:
The hon. Gentleman and the House know that Question Time is operated on a ballot system. I noticed today that only two questions were related to employment matters--Questions 1 and 17. I hoped to reach the latter, but we were very slow today in getting through the Order Paper. I hope that hon. Members do better in future, and we may then be able to have a wide variety of questions that suit all hon. Members and all interests in the House.
[Relevant documents: The Fifth Report of the Treasury and Civil Service Committee of Session 1993-94 (House of Commons Paper No. 27-1) on the Role of the Civil Service, the Government's response, incorporated in The Civil Service: Taking forward Continuity and Change (Cm 2748), and Minutes of Evidence taken before the Public Service Committee on 16th January, 7th February and 28th February 1996 (House of Commons PapersNos. 147, 213 and 265 of Session 1995-96).]
Madam Speaker:
I have selected the amendment standing in the name of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. Roger Freeman):
I beg to move,
The motion is in three parts. The first concerns the latest developments following the White Papers "Continuity and Change" and "Taking Forward Continuity and Change", that is, the promulgation of the civil service code, the establishment of the senior civil service and the enhanced role of the civil service commissioners. The second part covers our intentions regarding the privatisation of Recruitment and Assessment Services, and the arrangements that are proposed to protect the quality of civil service recruitment. The agency is more commonly known by its acronym RAS. The third part relates to our forthcoming White Paper on training and development in the civil service, and the further development by the Civil Service College of partnerships with the private sector.
Mr. Alan Howarth (Stratford-on-Avon):
The Chancellor has identified the first two themes as "Continuity and Change" and privatisation. There is intense dismay about proposals relating to Horticulture Research International, a magnificent scientific research establishment in my constituency. Although it has been subjected to endless processes of reform and restructuring, especially during the 1980s, it has been allowed to stabilise since 1990, and has performed every task required of it to the highest standard. For reasons of empty ideology, however--this is really scraping the bottom of the barrel--its privatisation is now being proposed. Will the right hon. Gentleman use his influence to ensure that no such destructive act proceeds?
Mr. Freeman:
I give the hon. Gentleman an undertaking that I shall look into the proposals in greater detail, and draw his comments to the attention of my right hon. Friends who are responsible for such matters.
Let me begin with the civil service code that came into force on 1 January this year. It sets out in a few paragraphs the constitutional framework of the civil service, and the values that every civil servant is expected to uphold. It forms part of the terms and conditions of employment of every civil servant, and considerable efforts have been made to publicise it, including steps intended to ensure that every civil servant has his or her own copy.
There are several reasons why the House should welcome the code's promulgation. Above all, its introduction has served powerfully to reaffirm the values that underpin the civil service, to which the Government remain committed. They are integrity, political impartiality, selection and promotion on merit and accountability to Parliament through Ministers.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich):
I was pleased to hear the Chancellor enumerate those qualities. Can he tell us why--according to a book by David Butler--when it came to deciding the position relating to the poll tax, the permanent secretary involved was simply told, "This is in our political interest"? If that is the Government's attitude to the civil service, is it not surprising that we do not come up with more bizarre answers than we do now?
Mr. Freeman:
It is very important for the civil service not only to act in the best interests of an independent service with full integrity, loyal to its political masters of the day, but to be seen to be able to serve Administrations of different political colours. That is the test: whether civil servants in any particular Department can continue through a change in Administration, and serve the new policies of an incoming Administration of whatever political colour.
The code does not assert any new values--it is not intended to--but the fact of its introduction has sent a clear signal about the importance that the traditional civil service values continue to have. Those values derive much of their day-to-day force from the fact that they command near-universal support. Thus general support for the code is clearly important, because the civil service is not the exclusive property of the Government of the day; it is a permanent and impartial service on which the Government of the day have, so to speak, the lease rather than the freehold. In other words, the civil service must command the confidence not only of the Government, but of potential future Administrations.
The code contains an important innovation. In addition to internal appeals procedures run by Departments, there is now a right of appeal to the independent civil service commissioners. Civil servants can now appeal when they believe that they are being required to act in a way which is illegal, improper or unethical, which breaches constitutional convention or a professional code, which may involve maladministration or which otherwise breaches the code or raises a fundamental issue of conscience.
Mr. John Garrett (Norwich, South):
Such an appeal, however, can be routed only through the head of the Department in which the civil servant works. The civil
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That this House welcomes the Government's policies on the Civil Service, as set out in the White Papers 'Continuity and Change' and 'Taking Forward Continuity and Change', including the promulgation of the Civil Service Code from 1st January 1996, the establishment of the Senior Civil Service from 1st April 1996 and the strengthening of the role of the Civil Service Commissioners in maintaining the principles of fair and open competition and selection on merit in recruitment; also welcomes the Government's policy with regard to the privatisation of Recruitment and Assessment Services, with the proposed safeguards to protect the quality of Civil Service recruitment; and looks forward to the intended publication in July of a White Paper on training and development in the Civil Service, associated with the further development by the Civil Service College of a number of partnerships with the private sector which will enhance its status in the provision of courses for those working in the public and private sector.
The motion has been tabled to enable the House to consider the main elements of the Government's proposals for the civil service and to clarify some of our plans for its future development.
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