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Public Accounts

I am not going to argue for more consultants from the Dispatch Box, but we should use consultancy services in government, when appropriate, and ensure that, if we use them, we get the best value from them and that they are not used as a sort of prop to allay individual project directors' worries about whether they are doing the right thing. That is all we can do from the centre, and, to be fair, the consultancy value programme, which is driven by the Office of Government Commerce, has been doing that. I hope that that will create a position whereby we can be much more confident that consultancy spend is undertaken for the right reasons. Some of the hysterical media coverage that we get, which assumes that any amount of consultancy spend is wrong and a waste of money, is not helpful in fostering circumstances in which those responsible for introducing consultancy work feel that they can do it without being subject to public criticism. For example, the recent screaming and inaccurate headlines in the Daily Mail about £7 billion a year spent on consultancy firms were unhelpful. I therefore agree with the comments of the hon. Member for South Norfolk about the matter. A theme of the debates is that the Committee's considered recommendations about procurement, project management and delays in introducing IT systems have not been implemented and that, consequently, Departments repeat the same mistakes. My right hon. Friend the Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) made that point with some frustration in an intervention, and the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Angela Browning) returned to the matter more than once in her contribution. It is a source of frustration to anyone who has been involved in that aspect of parliamentary scrutiny, including me as a member of the PAC when in opposition and now on the Treasury Bench. There must be a way in which to ensure that best practice is spread more effectively and appropriate lessons are learned. Again, that is a matter of training, as the hon. Lady pointed out. The hon. Lady also asked about skills training for the civil service. The civil service has the "Professional Skills for Government" programme, which gives high quality training and is tailored, when appropriate, to provide procurement and project management skills to ensure the availability of the skills needed to deliver good value for money for public services. Again, the hon. Member for South Norfolk made similar comments, which I endorse. On good practice, I was pleased to read the Committee's report on prison procurement, which was published only two days ago. The report demonstrated that the Prison Service has managed to implement a new strategy for procurement following a critical report from the Committee in 2003. The service has introduced a centralised and professionalised procurement team supported by five regional procurement teams in a new information technology system that was successfully phased in and that worked when it was turned on. As far I can tell, the system did not communicate in German or any other language apart from English. As a direct result of the Prison Service responding to the Committee's wide-ranging representations, the quality of goods and services procured has improved and £120 million in cash has been saved over five years. I welcome the praise that the hon. Member for Gainsborough lavished on that example of successful change management. He is often on the radio criticising, and quite rightly, but it is important that he also gives praise where praise is due, and in this instance it certainly is due. I understand that the Prison Service procurement model is to be used throughout the Ministry of Justice, with the prospect of further savings. It is precisely that kind of positive approach and successful implementation that we want to spread throughout government at all levels. That news also comes on the back of the positive report on Jobcentre Plus. That report was much commented on by my hon. Friends and by Opposition Members, particularly with respect to the observation that those who were responsible for implementing the successful changes in Jobcentre Plus had behind them a lot of operational experience at the front line, which they brought to bear on the decisions that they made. That observation should not go unnoticed by senior managers in the civil service as they contemplate what works and what is likely to increase the chances of success in any change project.