Live Cabinet Office Questions House of Commons

evening. First, we have questions Order! Questions to the Minister

for the Cabinet Office. Question number one. The moratorium

on new leases and on passing over breaks in existing leases has

helped us to save across central government the taxpayer some �270

million from property in the first 10 months of the coalition

Government's time in office. The Government has got out of over 900

leases and released freeholds, and last year alone, the size of the

estate fell by 6%. Will my right honourable friend reassure the

House that the Government will get value for taxpayers' money by

ensuring that the publicly owned freehold estate is used to avoid

the need for expensive leases? Speaker, that is the approach. Far

too much of the freehold estate is under occupied and far too many

expensive leasehold properties are occupied in a very inefficient way.

In Bristol, we discovered that the central they have -- central

government occupied 115 individual addresses, very inefficient and not

conducive to join their government. As you know, you should always

watch what a minister does and not what he says. The problem with this

Minister is he promised money to other departments while sneakily

building up his own empire. In truth, his department's agencies

had 23,000 square metres of office when he began, and it is now more

than double, to a staggering 56,000 square metres. Squeezing others

while expanding his department does not incentive by his people to

reduce their estate. The honourable gentleman ought to look a little

bit more carefully at the fact because what he is looking at is

the fact that the National School of Government and the Central

Office of Information were brought in house, whereas they were part of

quango land under the last government, and they were both

being closed down for. May I satisfy the opposition front bench

spokesmen and make good news for the Secretary of State. Why not

save any more money -- even more money by locating out of London and

coming to Wellingborough? Under my honourable friend's guidance, it is

an incredibly good place for people to work. But the size of the Civil

Service is falling to its lowest level since the Second World War.

We are reducing the number of people who need to be in central

London at all, but if the opportunity arises to relocate

people out of London, I am sure Wellingborough will have a good

case to made. When it comes to making savings to the public purse,

one constituent of mine has written to me. She works for the Civil

Service and is travelling a few times a week from Nottinghamshire

to London, for meetings which last one hour. Is that not a ridiculous

way to run things? Indeed. I would recommend to the department which a

constituent works for that they should investigate the use of the

telephone, which has been out for quite some time. With your

permission, I will answer questions two and nine together. Big Society

Capital exists to make it easier for charities across the UK to

access capital. It has two measures of success, growth and social

investment and the impact of their investment, and they are required

to report annually on the financial performance of their investment.

Thank you. In the centre for charitable giving and philanthropy,

a representative said the Big Society Capital is likely to be

biased in favour of safe lending. How will the Minister ensure that

smaller projects will have access to Big Society Capital? It is an

organisation with a social mission that exists to correct a market

failure. It is going to exist to support innovation, to grow this

new market, and it will invest across a range of products. Money

to make sure it secures a sufficient return to cover its

costs. The minister in his written answer to me on June 11th, stated

the investment and contact the front applies to England only.

Given that the Big Society Capital as for the whole of Britain, how

come other parts of the United Kingdom have the same assistance? -

- How can other parts? The Big Society Capital has been set up to

be available to charities and social enterprises across the UK.

The investment and readiness fund unavailable for charities and

social enterprises in England who want to make themselves more

investment ready. It is a matter for the devolved ministry. Smaller

charities say they have a harder time getting access to capital than

the big Tesco charities. How can we ensure that the Big Society

benefits little societies? He makes a good point, particularly relevant

this week. Access to capital affect smaller charities more than it does

larger ones, which is one of the reasons why, within two years, we

have developed the first social investments into tuition -- social

investment institution. Will the Minister provide

assurances to the house that this resource will tackle deprivation in

hard to reach communities, particularly in Northern Ireland

where there are isolated communities and where there are 35

areas of disadvantage which are measured scientifically? I have

been to Northern Ireland myself to make the point that the Big Society

Capital is available to charities and social enterprises there. It

depends on the quality of the investment propositions that are

brought forward and taken to the Big Society Capital by

intermediaries, but we are keen to engage with charities and social

enterprises in Northern Ireland to make sure it is as accessible as we

wanted to be. -- want it to the. All government departments are

required to maximise opportunities for redeployment within government

to take all reasonable efforts to avoid compulsory redundancies. The

barman's also have appropriate support for employees affected,

including retraining, coaching, career advice. Since the coalition

government was formed, 1,000 civil servants have left. How many more

civil servants do you anticipate leaving? As I said earlier, the

size of the Civil Service is reducing to its smallest size since

the Second World War, and it is clear that there will be further

downsizing. The resignation rate of senior civil servants is stable,

there is no higher turnover than there has been before. Can my right

honourable friend confirm that next week the Government will be

publishing its civil service reform plan, and that this may be one of

the issues which it addresses as the government tries to set out a

clear change programme for the wall of government? -- the whole of

government. We'll be trying to introduce civil reform, the pattern

will be about incremental reform, of which is capable of being

implemented. This should not be another civil service reform plan

that lies gathering dust on the Mr Speaker, it is her name and

aspiration and by the end of this Parliament, 25% of central

Government's spend with outside provider should be with small and

medium-sized enterprises. Procurement process will be

simplified to make it easier and cheaper for companies to see the

available business with government and to compete effectively. Since

the party opposite left office, our Direct spend is on track to double

already. How can small and medium enterprises find out more about how

to do more business with the Government? Through looking at the

contract finder website. That is where they should be looking.

Around one-third since 20th And many small businesses in my

constituency are finding it challenging to go online. I will

have come to that. With the honourable gentleman would like to

bring some of this applies to me to talk through what the difficulties

are, we want to make this as easy as possible. Suppliers told me that

it takes them typically four times as much to compete for public

sector contracts than private sector, and the changes we make

will radically reduce this, but we want to make sure this works.

of businesses, according to the FSB, still say the tendering process is

too complex. There are good messages in the procurement pledge

on the website the minister mentioned. How can he encourage

people to adopt the principles of this pledge? Within central

government, that his policy and it should happen. I am not claiming it

is universal yet, but we want to hear procurement that are not been

done in the right way. In the wider sector, we can do no more than

exhort and encourage. It remains the case that if we are alerted to

procurement been done in the old fashioned way that is very

antagonistic to small businesses, Mr Speaker, the latest official

figures continue to show that the proportion of procurement spends

going to SMEs is decreasing. The Federation of Small Businesses

found 40% believe the tendering process is too complicated. 37%

believe they are being side-lined by the Government. Does the

minister agree with Mark Thompson, an adviser to his own department,

who said the reality is the Government has very little idea of

how to deal with SMEs and has very little in the way of concrete plans

here? Well, Mr Speaker, for the first

time there are official figures. Untheer the last Government they

didn't even bother to count it. The numbers are going up. As -- across

Government - obviously within each department, there's not necessarily

going to be an even progress all the time. I would have thought he

would be able to understand that. Across the whole of Government,

spend with SMEs has doubled. I would hope that he would

enthusiasticly welcome that. Number five, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, we do

want to make it much easier to volunteer. We are implementing most

of the recommendations made in the good neighbour's report and

identify any remaining burdens we have the red tape challenge and

urge the sector and the challenge to contribute by visiting the

website. In Sherwood many people are put off by unnecessary CRB

checks. It's a frustration felt in many

constituencies. He'll be aware that changes are under way. Many fewer

people will require checks. Those that do will find it much easier to

carry the checks around the system. The port biblt people have asked

for. Those changes will be in place next spring.

Mr Speaker, this issue has come up repeatedly. Will the minister

accept the red tape challenge will be judged in the coming years by

the numbers of people who are involved in volunteering and those

who want to volunteer as to their verdict and their judgment on the

red tape challenge? All I know is I think it is incumbent on Government

to get out of the way as much as it can. There are, we think, many

areas of regulation. There are -- they are too intrusive, take up too

much time and money. There is cross-party support for encouraging

more people to get involved. Number six, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, we are

committed to ensuring that the reform of public sector pensions

means public servants will continue to receive pensions among the best

available. These provide a fair deal for public service workers,

while being affordable for the taxpayer and sustainable in the

long-term. We spent months negotiating a new scheme, which was

put some months ago to the unions in the Civil Service. Four unions

have now accepted the proposals. am sure the 85% of the workforce in

my constituency of Northwest Leicestershire, who work in the

private sector, will welcome that response, given their pensions are

on average far less generous than those available to the public

sector, which they are expected to fund. Can my honourable friend give

an estimate of the sum the taxpayer would be expected to pay for public

sector pensions over the next 25 years if these reforms did not take

place. Well, Mr Speaker, it is perfectly clear the reforms in

place across the public sector will save the taxpayer tens of billions

of pounds over coming decades. The Office for Budget Responsibility

and in its next long-term outlook will make an Estaiation. Number

seven, Mr Speaker. We liaise with other departments to encourage more

giving of both time and money. I thank the minister for his answer.

Research from New Fill lan introduce pi Capital has re vealed

many charities have cut front-line services. In addition, in the way

the relief proposal was handled - it remains to be seen whether

donors and charities trust this Government. Can the minister update

the House on how the Government will repair relationships with

charities? I think she'll find most people in the sector recognise and

welcome the Chancellor's change of mind on that issue. I think they

also recognise this is a Government committed to creating the

conditions for charities and social enterprise to do more. That

includes supporting more giving of time and money through the social

action fund and through some generous tax incentives.... Mr

Fuller. May I commend the Government on actions following the

consultation on taxation and chartibility donations. Can I urge

the minister to look at the gift aid structure and perhaps to

consider a transfer to a situation where individuals can deduct

charitable donations from their tax directly? Gift aid and all matters

relating to tax are a Treasury matter. He will be aware that gift

aid is under constant review. In the Budget some welcome initiatives

were brought in to make it easier for small charities to claim.

Number eight, Mr Speaker. In September, 2011 the team

published an annual update of their first year and a two-year sunset

review will be conducted by the board in summer 2012.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. What financial saving does the minister

estimate has been made by this initiative so far? This team does

interesting work, in terms of encouraging behaviour of change in

cost-effective ways F she looks at the annual report she'll see good

examples. By changing the wording in letters sent out by HMRC the

team increased payment rates from 68%-83%. Ety mated to make serving

of �30 million a year, in administrative and call costs, if

rolled out across the country. Number Ten, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker

on 31st May, we published business plans for 17 Government departments

which clearly set out the actions that Parliament will take to

implement the Government's reform priorities and by when. The Number

Ten website publishes monthly updates on which actions have been

completed and those which are overdue.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Could the minister explain how one Government

policy operating in direct conflict with another, for example the

withdrawing right to flexible working conflicting with support

for carers amounts to efficiency? Well, the particular issues are

well outside my particular responsibilities. I will cheerly

look at the question she raises. Number four, please, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: The honourable gentleman should not worry about it.

Number 11. I hope this is the right answer, any way. We are committed

to tackling fraud in all areas including public procurement. We

believe we can save the taxpayer billions a year in doing this

across Government. Every central Government body will carry out a

spend-recovery auddit by the end of next year which will generate

savings of �50 million-�100 million. The office for transport has saved

amounts by doing this. Welcoming the greater efficiencies and

economies of scale, but my honourable friend recognise the

danger that procurement can throe up barriers, might this explain why

SMEs are not always getting their fair share? Mr Speaker, SMEs are

increasing their share of Government business. It's doubled

since the election. It's set to continue further. But there's

actually, I point to my honourable friend, to what happened with the

Government's aggregated travel contract, where we brought it

together and one of the two contracts for travel across

Government was won by a small business which is rapidly becoming

a bigger one. THE SPEAKER: Topical questions. Number one, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, my responsibilities are for the public sector efficiency

and reform group, Civil Service issues, industrial relations,

strategy in the public sector, Government France parentsy, civil

contingencies, civil society and cybersecurity. Here in March,

ministers confirmed this department was conducting a review into the

long-term funding challenges, as promised to me by the minister last

October. Can he now tell the House and indeed the busy advisers, such

as those at Wiltshire's Citizens Advice Bureau what conclusions he

has reached? What has transpired so far is we know that advise

providers, as well as other parts of the voluntary sector are facing

a difficult situation N the Budget the Chancellor made �20 million

available in each of the next two years to support the not for profit

advise sector, as it adapts to changes. Our transition fund

provides support to 45CABs. 17 law centres and it is why the MOJ is

increasing funding for mediation services by �15 million to

encourage greater use of mediation in disputes.

THE SPEAKER: Mr Gareth Thomas. months ago the ministeror the

office gave us a big society in action. A year on, the charities

who originally signed up have gone bust. 100 have withdraw their

welfare to expeer seize completely from the programme. Is this an

example of the lack of leadership by ministers for charities across

Whitehall? Can we expect action to finally sort this mess out? I don't

know whether that means that the honourable gentleman does not

believe it's right for social enterprises to play a major role in

the provision of public services. We do. Over 400 social enterprises

and voluntary organisations are involved in the supply chain. I

would think he would welcome that. Nicola Blackwood. Far too many

noisy conversations taking place in the chamber. Let's have order for

Nicola Blackwood. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am sure the minister

will join me in supporting the work of the Arch Way Foundation which

has been combating loneliness. They struggle with excessive regulation.

Can the minister tell the House what steps he's taking to combat

red tape and hem p those most in need in our communities. -- help

those most in need in our communities. I am glad to

congratulate the ArchWay for their work. We are undertaking the most

comprehensive review of the legislation which affects the

sector. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Department for Work and Pensions

has no right to data T work programme ministers, absurdly, have

planned work-place providers from publishing any data at all about

their performance. That is the opposite of his open-data policy.

What he's doing about it? I'll tell the honourable gentleman what we're

doing about it - we're following the processes set up by the last

Government. Thank you, Mr Speaker. What

assessment has the minister made of last year's national citizenship pi

lot? It is an important report which

shows 8,000 teenagers last year committed a quarter of a million

hours. Satisfactions rate of 93% for teenagers and benefits to cost

ratio of 2-1. I would encurb rage all colleagues of all parties to

get involved in the summer. It is a fantastic thing for their young

constituentants. This Government came to power proming a bonfire of

the quangos. The health and social care act creates more quangos than

the public bodies Act abolished. Sir.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Cabinet Office minister must be praised for

efforts in driving forward the open day da agenda, whereby data sets

are beginning to provide growth the country needs. Can the minister

tell the House what further measures he has in mind for opening

up these dusty, public sector data sets? Well, Mr Speaker, my

honourable friend has been a formidable and expert advocate,

passionate advocate, for the open data agenda. It is the new raw

material. There is a huge amount of business growth to be driven by it.

We are a world leader, as a Government, in opening up data, but

there is more to come. THE SPEAKER: It's very unfair to

the minister that the minister is not being heard and the minister

should be heard, as should all members.

Valerie Vaz. The Government has sold off 250 freeholds of the

nation's building and land. If the Government is going to continue to

do that, could the minister ensure there is a kove ver napbt to ensure