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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I sympathise very much with the intention behind the amendment. I do not think that it would do any harm to include a responsibility in the code and the Bill to ensure that public money is spent wisely. My only worry relates to the use of the word "fiduciary", which gives the impression that the relationship between civil servant and Government is similar to the relationship that used to exist between local councillors and their authorities in the days of surcharging. The word "fiduciary" always cropped up in surcharging cases. Given the vast amounts of public money that go through Departments, it would be entirely wrong to open up civil servants to the possibility of having to repay perhaps billions of pounds to the public. I do not think that that was the intention of the right hon. Gentleman, but perhaps he should rethink the wording of the amendment on a future occasion.