ANNEX
A
DEPUTY PRIME
MINISTER'S
RESPONSE TO
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
FROM ANDREW
LANSLEY MP—11 JULY
2001
I head a new office of the Deputy Prime Minister
in the Cabinet Office. I am supported by a Minister of State,
my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs Roche),
by a Parliamentary Secretary, My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley
(Mr Leslie) and by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston CBE and Baroness
Morgan of Huyton for business in the House of Lords. As First
Secretary of State I will continue to deputise for the Prime Minister
as required, drawing on the resources of other parts of the Cabinet
Office as necessary. I will oversee the work of the Social Exclusion
Unit, which reports to the Prime Minister through me. I am also
responsible for the Regional Co-ordination Unit and the nine Government
offices of the Regions. On International matters I will support
the Prime Minister by seeing visiting dignitaries; undertaking
overseas visits; and overseeing the work of the International
Public Service Unit. I also carry ministerial responsibility for
the British-Irish Council and will deputise as necessary for the
Prime Minister at meetings of the Council. I will continue to
play a role in international climate change discussions and negotiations
on behalf of the Prime Minister. In addition, I will chair new
Cabinet Committees on Domestic Affairs and on Nations and the
Regions; and new sub-Committees on Social Exclusion and Regeneration
and on Energy Policy. I will continue to chair the Committee on
the Environment.
The Minister of State in the Deputy Prime Minister's
Office supports me across the full range of my duties. She will,
in particular, oversee the work of the Regional Co-ordination
Unit and the Government Offices in the Regions, reporting to me
on the development of their role and on the work of the regional
network of the COI. She will lead on projects arising out of the
work of the Social Exclusion Unit, be responsible for the work
of the Business Co-ordination Unit, and will be sponsor Minister
for a number of PIU projects. She will also be a member of a number
of Cabinet Committees, including those on the regions and social
exclusion.
The Parliamentary Secretary will support the
Minister of State and me across the range of our duties. He will
also support Lord Macdonald and will be the Minister answerable
in the Commons for day-to-day decisions on the Civil Service under
the Prime Minister as Minister for the Civil Service.
Baroness Morgan of Huyton, Deputy Minister for
Women, will report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry as the Cabinet Minister for Women on: the
day-to-day oversight of the Women and Equality Unit and sponsorship
of the Women's National Commission. She will co-ordinate equality
issues across Whitehall as Chair of a new Cabinet Sub-Committee
on Equality. She will also have responsibility for implementation
of Article 13 (reporting to the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry) and cross-cutting equality issues (on behalf of the
three lead equality Ministers).
The right hon. Lord Macdonald of Tradeston CBE,
as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster reports direct to the Prime Minister. He has day-to-day
responsibility for the work of the Delivery Unit, which supports
the Prime Minister on matters to do with the delivery of public
services. He will work closely with me as appropriate on related
cross-cutting issues covered by the Cabinet Committees under my
chairmanship. He is also responsible for the work of the Regulatory
Impact Unit; and the e-envoy's unit's work on e-government. He
will chair the Panel on Regulatory Accountability and will jointly
chair a new Ministerial Group on the Manchester Commonwealth Games
with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the
Home Civil Service, Sir Richard Wilson, will continue to report
direct to the Prime Minister on the work of the Cabinet and Cabinet
Committee Secretariats; the Joint Intelligence Committee and the
Single Intelligence Vote for which he is the Accounting Officer;
and the corporate management of the Civil Service (including the
Government Information and Communication Service); the honours
system; the Performance and Innovation Unit, which reports through
him to the Prime Minister and which will provide support to the
new Forward Strategy Unit in Number 10; and the new Office of
Public Services Reform which will similarly report through him
to the Prime Minister.
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