House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2008 - 09
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Other Bills before Parliament

457

House of Commons

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Committee of the whole House

Proceedings

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

[First Day]

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Negatived on division  12

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  13,  leave out paragraph (c).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Withdrawn  10

Clause  1,  page  2,  line  21,  at end add—

(5)

(a)
Within two months of this section coming into force, the Minister for the

Civil Service shall issue a list of all bodies and organisations that are to

be treated for the purposes of this Act as part of the Civil Service.

(b)
The Minister for the Civil Service shall from time to time review the list

referred to in (a) and shall issue an amended list if he believes it

appropriate to do so.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clause 2 Agreed to.

Dr Tony Wright

Mr Gordon Prentice

Kelvin Hopkins

Mr Charles Walker

Paul Rowen

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Withdrawn  55

Schedule  1,  page  33,  line  22,  leave out ‘, in exceptional cases,’.

Schedule Agreed to.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
458

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Pete Wishart

Negatived on division  48

Clause  3,  page  3,  line  7,  at end add—

‘(6)
The Minister for the Civil Service shall delegate the appointment and approval of

senior civil servants to senior posts in the Scottish Executive to the Head of the

Home Civil Service, acting on advice of the Civil Service Commission.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Francis Maude

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr David Gauke

Not selected  49

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  22,  at end insert—

‘(6)
The Minister for the Civil Service shall have the power to amend the Pensions

Acts.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clauses 5 and 6 Agreed to.

Dr Tony Wright

Mr Gordon Prentice

Kelvin Hopkins

Mr Charles Walker

Paul Rowen

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Not selected  56

Clause  7,  page  4,  line  22,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The code must state that where civil servants provide advice to Ministers, they

have the right to expect that the Ministers in question will give this advice due

consideration.’.

Mr Francis Maude

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr David Gauke

Withdrawn  50

Clause  7,  page  4,  line  29,  at end insert ‘with a fiduciary responsibility to spend

taxpayers’ money responsibly.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
459

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Kelvin Hopkins

Negatived  79

Clause  8,  page  4,  line  33,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  36

Clause  8,  page  4,  line  35,  leave out subsections (2) to (7) and insert—

‘(2)
For this purpose, the Minister may publish separate codes of conduct covering

special advisers who serve the Scottish Executive or the Welsh Assembly

Government.

(3)
Before publishing a code (or any revision of a code) under subsection (2), the

Minister must consult the First Minister for Scotland or the First Minister for

Wales (as the case may be).

(4)
In this Chapter “special advisers code” means a code of conduct published under

this section as it is in force for the time being.

(5)
The Minister for the Civil Service must lay any special advisers code before

Parliament.

(6)
The First Minister for Scotland must lay before the Scottish Parliament any

special advisers code under subsection (2) that covers special advisers who serve

the Scottish Executive.

(7)
The First Minister for Wales must lay before the National Assembly for Wales

any special advisers code under subsection (2) that covers special advisers who

serve the Welsh Assembly Government.

(8)
A special advisers code forms part of the terms and conditions of service of any

special adviser covered by the code.’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  80

Clause  8,  page  4,  line  38,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Dr Tony Wright

Mr Gordon Prentice

Kelvin Hopkins

Mr Charles Walker

Paul Rowen

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Not called  53

Clause  8,  page  4,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
The special advisers code must contain provision preventing a special adviser

from—

(a)
authorising the expenditure of any public funds;

(b)
exercising any power given by or under an Act of Parliament or an Act

of the Scottish Parliament; and

(c)
exercising any management function in relation to the civil service.’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  81

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  1,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  82

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  3,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
460

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  83

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  5,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  84

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  7,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  85

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  8,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Pete Wishart

Not called  47

Clause  8,  page  5,  line  8,  at end add—

‘(8)
The Minister for the Civil Service must publish a separate code of conduct for

special advisers in the Scottish Executive after consulting the First Minister for

Scotland.

(9)
The First Minister for Scotland must lay the code before the Scottish Parliament.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Francis Maude

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr David Gauke

Not called  51

Clause  9,  page  5,  line  14,  after ‘required’, insert ‘by other civil servants or

Ministers of the Crown.’.

Mr Francis Maude

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr David Gauke

Not called  52

Clause  9,  page  5,  line  25,  at end insert ‘This may include a recommendation for

dismissal of civil servants, or referral to the Prime Minister for Ministers of the Crown.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  11

Clause  9,  page  5,  line  31,  at end insert—

‘(6A)

(a)
The Commission may also investigate allegations of breaches of the

Code without receiving a complaint from a civil servant if it believes it

appropriate to do so.

(b)
For the purposes of an investigation under (a), the civil service

management authorities and any civil servant whose conduct is believed

by the Commission to be relevant to the investigation must provide the

Commission with any information it reasonably requres.

(c)
The Commission must determine procedures for investigations under (a).

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
461

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

(d)
The Commission may consider and make recommendations about the

matter following an investigation under (a).’.

Clause Agreed to.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  14

Clause  10,  page  5,  line  37,  at end insert ‘and to the promotion of civil servants’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  15

Clause  10,  page  5,  line  38,  after ‘selection’, insert ‘or promotion’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  13

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  1,  leave out paragraph (a).

Dr Tony Wright

Mr Gordon Prentice

Kelvin Hopkins

Mr Charles Walker

Paul Rowen

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Not called  54

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  6,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
An exception under paragraph 3(a) shall only apply if—

(a)
the Secretary of State has informed the Commission of his intention to

apply the provision, and

(b)
there would be no more than three people in post who had been selected

in reliance on paragraph 3(a), were the person to be appointed.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  32

Clause  10,  page  6,  line  8,  leave out from ‘servant,’ to end of line 9 and insert ‘any

appointment for which the person was selected in reliance on subsection (3) shall be

disregarded.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clause 11 Agreed to.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
462

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  16

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  23,  after ‘selection’, insert ‘or promotion’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  17

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  27,  after ‘selection’, insert ‘or promotion’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  18

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  40,  after ‘selection’, insert ‘or promotion’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  19

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  41,  after ‘selected’, insert ‘or promoted’.

Clause Agreed to.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  20

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  10,  leave out ‘for an appointment’ and insert ‘or

promotion’.

Clause Agreed to.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not selected  21

Clause  14,  page  7,  line  29,  after ‘selection’, insert ‘and promotion’.

Clause Agreed to.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  86

Clause  15,  page  7,  line  38,  leave out ‘special’ and insert ‘Ministerial’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  37

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  7,  leave out ‘8(7)’ and insert ‘8(8)’.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 3 November 2009
463

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  22

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  14,  at end insert—

‘(e)
those terms and conditions prohibit the special adviser from undertaking

restricted duties.’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  38

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  22,  leave out ‘8(7)’ and insert ‘8(8)’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  23

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  26,  at end insert—

‘(d)
those terms and conditions prohibit the special adviser from undertaking

restricted duties.’.

Secretary Jack Straw

Agreed to  39

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  35,  leave out ‘8(7)’ and insert ‘8(8)’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  24

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(d)
those terms and conditions prohibit the special adviser from undertaking

restricted duties.’.

Kelvin Hopkins

Not called  87

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
A Ministerial adviser appointed to give party political advice to Ministers or to

undertake other activities otherwise inappropriate to a civil servant is to be termed

a “political adviser”.

(1B)
A Ministerial adviser appointed for his professional experience to assist with

specific projects or problems is to be termed a “specialist adviser”.

(1C)
All Ministerial advisers must act only in the advisory and not an executive

capacity.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Not called  25

Clause  15,  page  8,  line  45,  at end insert—

‘(3)
The following are restricted duties—

(a)
authorising the expenditure of public funds;

(b)
exercising any power given by or under an Act of Parliament or an Act

of the Scottish Parliament;

(c)
exercising any function relating to the appraisal, reward, promotion or

disciplining of civil servants in any part of the civil service (including a

part of the civil service to which this Act does not apply).’.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.