1 Introduction
1. On 29 March 2007, the Prime Minister announced
machinery of government changes to the Home Office and the Department
for Constitutional Affairs.[1]
The reforms have been widely questioned: critics include senior
judges and former Home Secretaries from both sides of the House.[2]
In addition, a new Prime Minister will shortly take office, and
there has been much speculation on how the landscape of government
might be redesigned.[3]
Other Committees are likely to look at specific proposals for
change in their own policy areas; but it is timely to look now
at how changes are made to the structure of government,
and how they are scrutinised.
2. The performance of any organisation can be improved
by having the right framework with which to deliver the services
it provides. Government is no different, but the money it spends
is public money, and the services it provides are crucial to the
everyday lives of all its citizens. So the machinery of government
needs to reflect changing circumstances, and any system for making
such structural changes should be robust.
3. During our inquiry into Skills for Government,
which is yet to report, we heard how significant the unintended
consequences of machinery of government changes can be. Our predecessor
Committee also considered this issue in its inquiry into the Royal
Prerogative.[4] Now that
the issue has once again risen to political prominence, we have
decided to look further. We took evidence on this matter from
the former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler of Brockwell, and from
Professor Christopher Hood, the Gladstone Professor of Government
at Oxford University. We also discussed it in evidence sessions
with the current Cabinet Secretary and with the Minister for the
Cabinet Office. We are grateful to the House of Commons Journal
Office for their assistance. We have worked quickly, so that our
conclusions are available before any changes are proposed by the
new Prime Minister.
1 HC Deb, 29 March 2007, cols 133-135WS Back
2
See for example "Woolf fears Home Office Reforms", BBC
News Online, 24 April 2007, news.bbc.co.uk ; "Reid 'wrong'
on Home Office split", BBC News Online, 4 February
2007, news.bbc.co.uk; HC Deb, 9 May 2007, cols 149-151 Back
3
See for example "Is Brown planning new break-ups", The
Guardian, 10 May 2007, p 14; "Winner takes it all?",
The Observer, 20 May 2007, p 10; "Brown at work on
Whitehall shake-up", Financial Times, 18 May 2007,
p 1 Back
4
Public Administration Select Committee, Fourth Report of Session
2003-04, Taming the Prerogative: Strengthening Ministerial
Accountability to Parliament, HC 422 Back
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