Chilcot Defends Inquiry Team

Chilcot defends inquiry team Monday 23rd November 2009 at 11:56

The chairman of the Iraq war inquiry has defended the membership of his team, which he says is well-placed to deliver an independent report. In a series of interviews, Sir John Chilcot, a former permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland Office, said the five committee members, who include a former senior diplomat and first civil service commissioner, needed to have knowledge of government. “What you can’t do is make up a committee like this of people who have no experience of the workings of government from the inside,” Sir John told the BBC, but added: “When you set up an independent inquiry of this sort you set the members free to do what they will, and our determination is to do, not merely a thorough [report], but one that is frank and will bear public scrutiny.” Chilcot also strongly denied the inquiry would be a “whitewash”, but said the committee would not be able to provide a definitive judgment on the legality the war. “Definitive in one sense, yes, but not definitive in the sense of a court verdict of legal or illegal. It is much closer to high policy decisions - was this a wise decision, was it welltaken, was it founded on good advice and good information and analysis?" he told the Press Association. Chilcot said that he hoped that the inquiry would be able to come up with practical recommendations for the future. He pointed to the example of the Franks Inquiry into the Falklands War which had a major influence on naval architecture after highlighting the vulnerability of the Royal Navy's warships to missile attack.

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Ofsted inspections under fire Monday 23rd November 2009 at 10:24

Ofsted has come under fire from its former head and a group of local authority children’s bosses. The schools and child services watchdog, whose role was expanded in 2007 to include post-16 education and children’s social care services, uses 'flawed methodology' and 'wastes time and resources', according to a report from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), which represents local authorities. ADCS called for Ofsted to be clearer about how it reaches judgments on schools, children’s homes and child projection services. It also said that performance data should be presented in a way that is more comprehensible to members of the public.

Meanwhile, former chief inspector at Ofsted, Sir Mike Tomlinson, said the body needed to reform the way it carries out inspections. “The question needs to be asked and answered as to whether Ofsted has the appropriate skills and experience to carry out its agenda," he told the Guardian. "Inspection systems that rely too heavily on data and tick-box systems is not what we need. I worry we are heading that way."

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Osborne targets Whitehall emissions Tuesday 24th November 2009 at 12:29

Departments that fail to cut emissions will have their funding cut under a Conservative government, George Osborne has announced. In a speech at Imperial College London, the shadow chancellor said departments would be obliged to make 10 per cent emissions cuts within a year, and those that did not would be punished by the Treasury. The Conservatives believe the move could save £300m in bills annually. “Departments will have to report to the Treasury on their energy consumption and emissions,” Osborne said. “And let me make it clear: if any department does not cut their energy use, we will simply give them less money to spend on energy.” He said the Tories would also require more online publication of government activities towards sustainability. “We will introduce the most radical energy transparency policy ever introduced by a national government, and publish online the real-time energy consumption of every building in Whitehall.” “That way, the public can hold ministers and civil servants to account for their performance against the 10 per cent target.” Osborne also said the Treasury would have to become more “engaged” in climate change policy than it has been up to now. “Quite frankly, when it comes to environmental policy, the Treasury has often been at best indifferent, and at worst obstructive,” he said. “That attitude is going to change if the government changes.” “I want a Conservative Treasury to be in the lead of developing the low-carbon economy and financing a green recovery.” But climate-change secretary Ed Miliband attacked the Tory plans, saying they involved “no new money”. "The truth is that the Tories have opposed Labour's extra public investment, including the £400m allocated at the time of the budget for new green industries. So why should anyone believe a piece of greenwash from George Osborne?"

Also today, the shadow chancellor announced that householders could be paid to recycle and a “green” government bank would encourage sustainable investment. Osborne’s announcements were part of a wider series of speeches on climate change being given this week by shadow cabinet members.

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Social care costs set out Wednesday 25th November 2009 at 11:38

A reduction in health research and development, public health promotions and consultants will pay for the government's free social care proposal. Health secretary Andy Burnham has used an interview with the Times newspaper to set out how he will pay for the £670m-a-year plan to provide free social care to people in their own homes. He said £60m would be found from the Department of Health's research and development budget, and a department spokesman has clarified that this relates to money for administrative matters. The £1bn funding for health research in areas such as cancer or dementia would be ringfenced, he said. Burnham also said £50m would be found by cutting spending on public health promotions. The Tories have pointed out that this would affect campaigns on problems such as MRSA, obesity and sexually transmitted diseases. The government plans to access another £60m for the policy by reducing the use of management consultants, and another £20bn would be produced thanks to efficiency savings across the NHS over the next four years. The secretary of state has insisted that he will not be taking funding from vital projects. "I'm moving stuff out of lower-priority, backroom spend towards direct public benefit. "All I want to say is we are being tough about that. I'm interested in really squeezing so that we get as much benefit directly to the public as quickly as we can. "I've got to be ruthless about that and I will be ruthless about that." The Social Care Bill, to be published today, guarantees free personal care at home for up to 280,000 elderly and disabled people with the highest needs, while another 130,000 will receive other help, including adaptations to their properties to allow them to remain at home for longer.

However, the plans have been criticised by opposition and Labour politicans. Labour peer Lord Lipsey of Tooting Bec, a former member of the Royal Commission on Long-term Care, has questioned whether the money could be found through efficiency savings. He told GMTV: "I have not seen the bill yet, but if it does what it is reported to be doing, the first thing is that it is extremely expensive. We really have a very tight position fiscally nationally now, this is an extra £670m in year one - in Scotland, where they have done this and it has proved a disaster, that sum rose by three quarters in just four years. "So taxpayers are going to have to pay for this for years and years and years." This is not a well-crafted policy because it only helped those who were able to stay at home. "If they have to go into a home because they have got really advanced dementia or are doubly incontinent, all those horrible things that happen at the end of life, they won't get a penny of extra help from the state as a result of this bill," he said. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has also questioned Burnham's sums, claiming that they "simply don't add up". "The amount of money they are cutting from the NHS budget doesn't even begin to cover what they claim the cost of the policy will be, which most experts agree is already a gross under-estimate," he said. "Labour are also proposing to axe key public campaigns on areas like tackling MRSA, obesity and sexually transmitted diseases. "Many people will wonder if this is the best use of NHS resources."

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Tory gives Sure Start commitment Wednesday 25th November 2009 at 11:11

A Tory peer has denied claims that her party would abandon the Sure Start family centres established by the Labour government. Baroness Verma, the Conservative spokesman for children, schools and families in the Lords, said the party was committed to the network of centres which bring together services such as health, childcare and social services. "We are committed to Sure Start. We will be supporting Sure Start. We have always

supported Sure Start," she said on Tuesday. Former Labour minister Lord Dubs had earlier said that it "would be a disaster if some party were to gain power with the avowed aim of abolishing Sure Start", while junior children and families minister Baroness Morgan of Defelin said there were reports that the Tories "are considering taking funding from Sure Start centres in order to shore up other proposals". That is "incredibly concerning", she said, adding that she hoped Baroness Verma's support for Sure Start was "echoed" by Tory leader David Cameron.

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Quangos to leave London Thursday 26th November 2009 at 10:22

Leaked highlights from a major pre-Budget Treasury reprort point to a move of thouands of civil servants out of London. Treasury minister Liam Byrne has been working on the Smarter Government report for the last seven months, work that included asking Whitehall departments to review the number, size and role of their arms-length bodies. The Guardian reports today that arms-length bodies may be asked to relocate their offices and hundreds of thousands of employees out of London and the South-East, although the Treasury has described the story as "speculation". The review of quangos, a policy pledge which Conservative leader David Cameron also made back in June, will also seek to reduce their number with mergers. Examples given to the Guardian include bringing together 15 advisory councils on agriculture, and combining the Sentencing Guidelines Council and Sentencing Advisory Panel. The newspaper says there is concern about the increased number of senior officials, from 3,100 in the 1990s to 4,300 today, and says the report will aim to reduce the cost of senior officials, although there are no details as to how that will be managed. Shared services also feature in the report, but the Guardian says the report does not suggest which Whitehall departments should combine their back-office functions. Byrne's full report is expected to be published three days before the pre-Budget report, which itself is due on Wednesday, December 9.

A Treasury spokesman would not comment on the leaks ahead of the report's publication, but did say that the government had pre-existing plans for relocating civil servants out of the South East. "Following Sir Michael Lyons' report on relocation in 2004, the government announced plans to relocate 20,000 posts out of London and the South East by March 2010," he said. "In the Budget, the government announced that 19,000 relocations had already been achieved and as a result the government would increase the target to 24,000 posts by 2010-11."

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Treasury 'has squeezed' MoD Thursday 26th November 2009 at 10:45

The defence budget has been "squeezed" in recent years and troops in Afghanistan have been "under-resourced", a former head of MI6 has claimed. Sir Richard Dearlove, who was in charge of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) when troops moved into Afghanistan in 2001, made the attack on government policy when he gave a lecture at Gresham College in London on Wednesday night. ITV News has obtained a recording of Dearlove's speech, during which he also accused the government of being "half-hearted" in its commitment to policy in Afghanistan. "Our armed forces have been under-resourced. This is a basic fact from which there really is no escape," he said. "The Treasury has been squeezing the defence budget for approximately eight years." He continued: "Until recently, our political leadership has failed to explain satisfactorily why we are at war. "Their advocacy of the policy has, I think, been half-hearted. "Maybe now we see a change in that advocacy with a more confident position being taken," he said. "But the reason for change looks rather more like political damage limitation, than vigorous belief in the policy." A Downing Street spokesman said funding for the Afghan mission had risen from £750m in 2006/07 to £1.5bn in 2007/08, £2.5bn in 2008/09 and £3.5bn in 2009/10. "We have consistently increased funding for the mission in Afghanistan year by year in recent years," he said. "The prime minister and other cabinet ministers continue to explain and make the case publicly for the mission."

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Maude wants full-time profession heads Friday 27th November 2009 at 10:28

The Conservative Party has fleshed out its plans for the civil service with a raft of measures designed to increase accountability and professionalism. Shadow minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has unveiled proposals which include making profession heads full-time, rather than part-time roles, and discouraging scrutiny bodies and auditors from stifling innovation. Maude has expressed concern about "depleted morale", quoting staff survey results and sickness figures as proof that the service is crying out for reform. "The current system fails to incentivise excellence, to support poor performers, is opaque and inflexible, and allows inefficiency to continue without exposing it to proper scrutiny and remedy," he said. Tory reforms, he added, will "make the civil service a world class institution, a better place to work and ready to deliver the change that this country needs". One unexpected reform is the proposal to create new full-time posts for the heads of the HR, IT, procurement and finance professions. Currently, all civil service-wide profession head roles are taken on by senior civil servants who already have a department-based fulltime position. Working on the principle that the civil service has been discouraged from innovating because of the public exposure that accompanies any failures, Maude wants the Commons public accounts committee and the National Audit Office to change the focus of their scrutiny work. In a recent interview with Civil Service World, Maude complained that the civil service was risk-averse because the media, Westminster and the public treated "every failure as a culpable failure. For every failure, there has got to be a senior scapegoat found." He added that politicians had a responsibility to change their approach if innovation was to flourish. The Tories have already outlined many of their proposals for increasing transparency and accountability, including the publication of salaries and spending online, the manning of department boards with ministers and private sector non-executives, and the publication of departmental business plans and key priorities. Maude added yesterday that he expected select committees to scrutinise departments in

even greater detail than they currently do, by "thoroughly" examining business plans, accounts and reported cost-benefits of policies. Separate concerns over failures in project management have led the party to call for Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) to stay in place for the entirety of a project's lifetime. Select committee reports have regularly commented on the way the civil service tradition of moving posts every four or so years has contributed to the failure of important government programmes. With regard to individual civil servants' performance, Maude said the appraisal system should be improved so that the best- and worst-performers are identified, and so that managers can remove staff members who are not performing. Under the Tories, civil servants can also expect to be personally responsible for finding operational efficiencies, and will be rewarded when they do. The party also wants the civil service's compensation scheme to be brought into line with the private sector.

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Hammond announces efficiency plans Friday 27th November 2009 at 10:43

The Tories may centralise management of government property, shadow Treasury minister Philip Hammond is due to announce today. Departments will pay rent and professional asset companies will be employed to squeeze as much as possible out of the government estate, he is expected to say in a speech to the Policy Exchange think-tank later today. Following hot on the heels of shadow Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude's announcement of civil service reforms yesterday, Hammond is also due to outline plans for an advisory board on productivity which will push the civil service to make efficiency savings. In a pre-release of his speech, Hammond says that the private sector has achieved a 20 per cent growth in productivity since 1997 while the public sector saw a 3.4 per cent fall. "We have modelled what would have happened if the public sector of our economy had delivered the same productivity performance as the private service sector in each year of

that decade," Hammond's speech says. "The result is startling: we would today be enjoying the same quality and quantity of public services - with a saving to the taxpayer of some £60bn per year. "That is the price we are paying, every year, for Labour's failure to deliver public service reform." According to a Tory spokesman, the advisory board will include "very senior advisers with established credentials", although no-one has been named yet. Other plans to be unveiled by Hammond include the introduction of competition into the public sector by allowing high-performing parts to bid to run under-performing areas. So, one department or local authority's procurement team could take over management of colleagues in another department or council that was not performing as well. Hammond is due to argue that the move would mean the Tories were "fostering a cadre of public sector entrepreneurs, innovating across the sector to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer". Other plans include extending public control beyond schools and social care, to areas such as leisure and cultural services, and increasing payment by results.

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/hammond­ announces­efficiency­plans/ E­government   ­    Friday 20th November   Leading e­government news and features for the IT professional    Digital plans already facing delays The new Digital Economy Bill will not become law before the next election Warning over health records fraud Coroner calls for NHS to ensure that patient records cannot be tampered with Hull breach dampens launch of SCRs Security of summary care record in question as London announces roll out Ordnance Survey data is opened up Gordon Brown says it's all part of a plan to improve transparency for the public ICO: Send data traders to prison Information commissioner wants to close down personal data black market

Tories: fast broadband for cities first Conservative government would let market control roll-out of faster networks ID cards cost nearly £250,000 daily As the Manchester roll out begins, Lib Dems reveal £81.5m spent in 2008/09 Contract is greenest in government The Environment Agency will reduce IT carbon emissions by 50 per cent TV signals could carry broadband Ofcom to consider pros and cons of lower frequency 'white space' signals Social network installs panic button Bebo website allows all users to report suspicious behaviour to CEOP

Features: Securing a broadband Britain As the Digital Economy Bill is published following the Queen's Speech, the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation answers Public Service Review's questions about plans for an inclusive digital future Getting the efficiency message in Morse code At a time when government is counting out the loose change from the back of the Cabinet Office sofa and spending is being examined afresh for value, Amyas Morse wants a new efficiency regime of 'follow my lead' at the National Audit Office. He talks to Dean Carroll http://www.publicservice.co.uk/topic_section.asp?topic=e­government THE WEEK'S TOP PUBLIC SECTOR STORIES Ofsted 'could increase child abuse' Inspectorate's actions boost chances a vulnerable child is missed, claims LGA Ofsted is failing, critics are claiming Councils, headteachers and MPs are to question how the inspectorate operates Ofsted 'fails good schools on safety' One of the 10 most improved schools in England is marked down over security Government kept £62bn loan quiet Bank of England gave the loan to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS in 2008 CPS is sent files on MPs and peers Police believe there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges over expenses Reform Parliament soon, MPs urge Government influence should be cut and backbenchers should have more power 'Flipping' Labour MP claimed £65,000 Now standards and privileges committee member Dismore is told to stand down Curry resigns over claims allegations He was chairman of the parliamentary standards and privileges committee Labour peers slam Care at Home Bill Brown's flagship policy is 'one of most irresponsible acts by a prime minister' Report on police 'pulls no punches' Inspectorate of Constabulary says police need to rethink tactics during protests

Home Office pushes 'policing pledge' High-profile adverts will tell public about neighbourhood policing commitments Police 'could quit over Tory plans' Sir Hugh Orde has said chief constables might go if subjected to political control Red tape bonfire 'would save £45bn' Frontline services could be protected by cuts in bureaucracy, LGA has claimed 'Slightly surprised, deeply privileged' Baroness Ashton is the new EU 'foreign secretary' and van Rompuy is president

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