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Dr. Lewis Moonie (Kirkcaldy): Will my right hon. Friend tell us how many members of the senior civil service are drawn from ethnic minorities? What form will affirmative action take?
Dr. Cunningham: In the civil service as a whole, people from the ethnic minority communities are proportionately represented. However, as my hon. Friend suggests, they are not proportionately represented in the higher ranks and the better jobs in the civil service. In 1998, people from ethnic minority backgrounds held 1.6 per cent. of all posts in the senior civil service. We aim to increase that proportion--indeed, to double it--by the early part of the next century. We shall set a target for women in senior civil service posts too, for the same reasons. They, too, are hopelessly under-represented at the top of the civil service.
Mr. Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills): Surely the right hon. Gentleman must appreciate that, if he employs high-flown management-speak, people will fear that he is concealing, rather than revealing. Much of the language of his statement simply was not the plain English that would have helped many of us.
The right hon. Gentleman did not say a great deal about the civil service. I have not, of course, read the White Paper, as it was not available until he stood up to speak. What plans are there to put the civil service code on a statutory basis? That theme ran through the previous
Opposition, and the right hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Mr. Maclennan) and the Foreign Secretary reached an agreement before the general election. Two years into this Parliament, however, we still have had no announcement.
Dr. Cunningham:
I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman does not like a modern management approach to reforming government. There was no attempt in my statement or in the White Paper to conceal anything from him or the House. On the contrary, I made sure that the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire(Sir G. Young) and the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir P. Cormack) had a copy of the statement a full hour before I made it, and a copy of the White Paper. That was much better than the treatment that we used to receive when we were in opposition and some Tory Members were Ministers. I will take no criticism from anyone about concealing anything. The two Tory Front Benchers had more than enough time, and more than we were ever allowed, to study Government statements.
On the second part of the question put by the hon. Gentleman, we have no proposals yet.
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington):
My hon. Friend proposes that 100 per cent. of government services should be capable of electronic delivery by 2008. That remarkable proposition will transform people's lives in ways that they currently find it difficult to understand. Can we go a stage further by considering the introduction of national identity cards, which would produce huge benefits to government in savings, the reduction of fraud and service delivery? Surely, only by introducing a national identity card can we fulfil the real ambition that my right hon. Friend has shown.
Dr. Cunningham:
My hon. Friend is right. It is revolutionary to propose that all government services should be accessible using information technology systems. That is a target that we shall work towards, although it will not mean that everyone will have to use information technology to access services.
On my hon. Friend's second point about identity cards, I have made it clear that there is no proposal in the White Paper to introduce a compulsory card. These days, a great many people--probably the majority of the population--carry a whole series of cards that readily identify them. For that reason, some heat has gone out of the issue. We have no proposal to introduce compulsory identity cards.
Mr. Andrew Tyrie (Chichester):
May I share the views expressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Brooke) and myhon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd) that the statement was packed full of jargon that is every bit as much of a barrier between the general public and whatever it is that the Government are trying to convey to them as Sir Humphrey Appleby-speak would be?
The statement listed as a new initiative the Centre for Management and Policy Studies. Was that not announced last July? It is not a new initiative at all. How many more initiatives announced today had been announced already?
Dr. Cunningham:
The Centre for Management and Policy Studies is a new initiative. The first important
Ms Tess Kingham (Gloucester):
I am pleased to see on page 60 of the White Paper a commitment to improving the system of public appointments. I recently participated in selecting chairs of NHS trusts under the current system, and found it desperately unsatisfactory--I understand that it was inherited from the previous Government. The system is opaque and shrouded in mystery. It places too much power in the hands of too few unelected people, and those who have not been selected do not know the results until the last minute. The current system is not a good way to recognise the hard work that many people put into many years of public service. Will my right hon. Friend improve the system and ensure that it is transparent and open? There must be a better way to reward public service and make it more accountable.
Dr. Cunningham:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. More than 100,000 people participate in public life through service on boards, trusts and advisory and executive bodies, so it is a big issue. We need to change significantly the system that we inherited from the previous Administration, and we propose to do that, as set out in the White Paper on page 60 under the heading "Public appointments". Today, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office had discussions with representatives from all Departments to initiate those changes.
Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset):
Many of us who listened to the Minister's statement will have asked, "Where is the beef?" How will he improve on government? For a long time, I have criticised the time that it takes for Ministers to respond. Members of Parliament are most closely involved with Ministers, but it can still take more than three months to get a simple answer to a simple letter. What is the point of linking all Ministers to the internet if, in the latest edition of the list of Ministers' addresses, only four Ministries include the e-mail addresses of their Ministers, despite the fact that almost all Ministries can be contacted by e-mail?
Dr. Cunningham:
The hon. Gentleman seems to be somewhat confused. The White Paper is not describing an
I take the hon. Gentleman's second point more seriously, because he is right in saying that we need constantly to examine the performance of Departments and Government agencies. We shall do that. New standards were announced last July and I am reviewing that and tightening up the procedures. I agree that people, whether they are Members of Parliament or members of the public, should not have to wait months and months for a reply.
Mr. Peter Bradley (The Wrekin):
My right hon. Friend will agree that he need take no lessons from Opposition Members who, when in government for 18 years, seemed to know the cost of everything but, when it came to public service, the value of nothing. They contributed more than any other factor to the demoralisation of staff and the degradation of their services. My right hon. Friend took the opportunity in his statement to commend the potential of people working in the public service. How will he release the enormous potential and commitment of people in the public service? Will he recognise that, just as the dead hand of bureaucracy frustrates members of the public, it also frustrates public servants who know that, if they were able to exercise more discretion and flexibility in their work, they could provide a far better service to the public?
Dr. Cunningham:
I agree with my hon. Friend. We have much to learn about using the talents, skills and knowledge of people in the public service more effectively than we have in the past. The new Centre for Management and Policy Studies is one way to ensure that people, through their training and skilling, will be as sharp and adept as the best private sector managers in managing large public expenditure budgets.
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