Examination of Witnesses (Questions 120-122)
SIR GUS
O'DONNELL KCB
11 OCTOBER 2005
Q120 Mr Burrowes: Yes.
Sir Gus O'Donnell: Personally
I would be in favour of anything which entrenched the traditional
values of honesty, objectivity and impartiality that we have been
talking about. I would strongly favour that. We would need to
ensure there is flexibility for the Civil Service to manage. The
reality is that we are in consultation and we have had 50 responses
to that. I am going through them—some are in favour, some
against. In terms of legislative priorities the Government has
a number of issues which it really believes are rather more important
and so I am pragmatic about it and indeed I try to push things
like capability reviews, the professionalisation of the Civil
Service, but there are other things as well. There are some elements
that are in the draft Act that you put forward and what I want
to do is look at those and see if there are any elements of those
that we can make progress on independently of legislation. For
example, there are things about the Civil Service Code. Usha Prashar,
who is the First Commissioner, has got a team together and is
looking at revising the Code with a view to, not least, making
it more accessible and less Whitehall focused. We should have
a draft of that in the next few months which I will send to this
Committee and would very much welcome your views on that and then,
having taken on board the consultation, we will change it.
Q121 Chairman: When you say that
it is not a legislative priority, if you knew how many times that
had been said to us on this Committee over the years. I remember
your predecessor but one Mr Richard Wilson, as was, promising
us that we were on the eve of legislation and it had finally reached
the top of the Government's legislative priorities, and now it
has all slipped away again despite having had a consultation paper
and a draft Bill. Your predecessor's parting shot in July was
to take a genial swipe at this Committee for its advocacy of such
a Bill. From what you say you sound as though you are rather more
well-disposed towards the proposition.
Sir Gus O'Donnell: Like I say,
the Prime Minister and the Cabinet will decide on legislative
priorities and I can understand where they are. I have always
said that anything which entrenches the values of the Civil Service
is a good thing. Now, the precise form of the Act is something
we could talk about and there are some issues there that will
emerge out of the consultation.
Q122 Chairman: Let me give you a
slight inducement. If we are to avoid during your tenure having
this exchange routinely the only thing we can do is to have a
Bill, otherwise we shall play the same game endlessly. Everybody
is more or less signed up to it apart from those at the very centre.
The case for doing it is overwhelming and we should just do it.
The sky, I assure you and indeed I assure your masters, will not
fall in having done it. That is my little peroration at the end.
I think we have had a splendid wide-ranging session with you.
I am afraid it is one of the things that comes with the job and,
not only that, it comes more than once so we will see you again,
but I am very grateful for today.
Sir Gus O'Donnell: I would like
to thank the Committee. It was very useful. Thank you very much.
|
