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Debate on Tuesday, 23 October 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Edward Leigh. The answering member was Angela Eagle.

Public Accounts

Debate on a motion to take note of the Public Accounts Committee ninth, eleventh, thirteenth to fortieth and forty-third to forty-fifth reports, and first special report of session 2006-07, together with the Treasury minutes theron (Cm 7076, 7077, 7151, 7152 and 7216). Agreed on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
465 c212-57 
Session
2006-07
Department
Treasury
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Show all related items (5)
Proceeding contributions
Richard Bacon | 465 c252 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the Minister to beware of snake oil salesmen who might try to divert her attention from wh...
Angela Eagle | 465 c252 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is an expert on that snake oil, I am sure he will not be backward in coming fo...
Show all contributions (68)
Julia Goldsworthy | 465 c250 (Link to this contribution) Does not the Minister agree that people on low incomes are most vulnerable to fluctuations in their ...
Angela Eagle | 465 c250-1 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, those who have less of a margin will suffer if problems occur, but it is equally the case t...
Lord Hammond of Runnymede | 465 c250 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is right about that tension. However, is not the message from our debate that we have t...
Angela Eagle | 465 c250 (Link to this contribution) That is true, but equally the hon. Gentleman must recognise that fixed payments would make many peop...
Alan Williams | 465 c250 (Link to this contribution) The consultation on whether the Government should have more power or influence over the BBC is utter...
Angela Eagle | 465 c250 (Link to this contribution) I hear my right hon. Friend strongly and take note of what he says. The hon. Member for Falmouth an...
Lord Hammond of Runnymede | 465 c245-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I am not an expert in civil service human resources practices, but the prob...
Angela Eagle | 465 c247-50 (Link to this contribution) It is my privilege to speak on behalf of the Government. I follow in the impressive footsteps of my ...
Philip Dunne | 465 c252 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that explanation. Does it mean that when an external event takes place such as a f...
Angela Eagle | 465 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) No. It will obviously be aware of such events if they are due to happen. If an unfunded pressure of...
Philip Dunne | 465 c253 (Link to this contribution) Given that if a claim is made it is for the Treasury to decide whether to accept or reject it, was a...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 465 c253-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend will want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Olympic Deliver...
Angela Eagle | 465 c254-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right, and it is nice to hear a contribution that celebrates our success in winnin...
Edward Leigh | 465 c256-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Exchequer Secretary for her kind words to the Committee. I thank all those who have take...
Edward Leigh | 465 c212 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House takes note of the 9th, the 11th, the 13th to the 40th and the 43rd to...
Richard Bacon | 465 c214-5 (Link to this contribution) I was interested by what my hon. Friend said about the Rural Payments Agency. He mentioned testing o...
Edward Leigh | 465 c212-4 (Link to this contribution) That was a worrying development. Civil servants have a very difficult job, but usually, whatever hap...
Philip Dunne | 465 c212 (Link to this contribution) Does the Chairman of the Committee agree that it is not only important for notes to be made availabl...
Edward Leigh | 465 c215 (Link to this contribution) It would be great in an ideal world, but it might be rather career-limiting for a civil servant to s...
Philip Dunne | 465 c215 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that he met the Secretary of State twice. The second time was to get fired.
Edward Leigh | 465 c215 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend's last point illustrates a difficulty that arises in Government. We live in a politic...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c215 (Link to this contribution) Another problem may be the fact that civil servants are not prepared—I do not know why, because they...
Richard Bacon | 465 c245 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there should not be a conflict between career development and success...
Lord Hammond of Runnymede | 465 c242-5 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting and useful debate, and I congratulate all hon. Members who have taken p...
Edward Leigh | 465 c236 (Link to this contribution) And until recently, not a single project director had ever become a permanent secretary.
Richard Bacon | 465 c235-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady probably has a point. No matter where a project stands and how well developed it may o...
Speaker | 465 c238 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman is going a little far from the brief that is before the House; I suggest t...
Richard Bacon | 465 c236-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a scandal. We must start changing the culture and valuing the delivery of projects, and that...
Philip Dunne | 465 c238-42 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Mr. Bacon), who confir...
Richard Bacon | 465 c238 (Link to this contribution) I shall steer away from those rip tides, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I hope that the Exchequer Secretary...
Richard Bacon | 465 c242 (Link to this contribution) On a point of clarification, or correction, the accounts were signed, but subject to a qualified opi...
David Leslie Taylor | 465 c234 (Link to this contribution) I shall not refer to the RPA, as that report is not under discussion, but I worked on major IT proje...
Richard Bacon | 465 c234-5 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree. I remember the then chairman of the Inland Revenue, as it was then, Sir Nick Mon...
Julia Goldsworthy | 465 c235 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think that one of the reasons why civil servants may move on is that project...
Speaker | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sorry to interrupt the harmonious dialogue between two hon. Members, but I am struggling...
David Leslie Taylor | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is most generous in giving way again. As one of the two rapporteurs on the RPA disast...
Speaker | 465 c231 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will ensure that the Official Report gets a translation.
Austin Mitchell | 465 c231 (Link to this contribution) And for recommending their friends to carry through the execution of the project. That is the proced...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) I should not have said anything, should I?
Richard Bacon | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in what evidence the hon. Gentleman has for his assertion that presiding over a disa...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) The Northern Rock of ages was well cleft for him. I was really rebutting the point made by the Chair...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c229 (Link to this contribution) I cannot accept that accusation from my hon. Friend, although I accept most of his accusations again...
David Leslie Taylor | 465 c228 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to draw out the theme that very senior civil servants do not resist the unde...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c230 (Link to this contribution) I criticise civil servants in that regard, but perhaps the hon. Gentleman is going to criticise me.
Austin Mitchell | 465 c228 (Link to this contribution) I am not looking at my hon. Friend with malevolent intent. The big computer and IT companies seem ab...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c227-8 (Link to this contribution) In saying that I will be brief, I shall be unusual, and actually be brief. I did not intend to speak...
Richard Bacon | 465 c225 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady mentioned tax credits, about which there have been various reports, but does she agree...
Julia Goldsworthy | 465 c225-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about that, and the saddest thing is that the tax credits str...
David Leslie Taylor | 465 c227 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady talks about lessons learned. Does she agree that a common theme in many of the systemi...
Julia Goldsworthy | 465 c227 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. My concern is not just how the lessons are learned in n...
Julia Goldsworthy | 465 c223-5 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams) asked what the BBC had to fear from giving ev...
Alan Williams | 465 c222-3 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. There is no logic behind that position, but every incoming Minister in the Department for Cu...
Richard Bacon | 465 c222 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend think that this subject might come up when next we see the director-genera...
Alan Williams | 465 c222 (Link to this contribution) That does not surprise me. Indeed, it makes me wonder what the BBC has to hide.
Philip Dunne | 465 c222 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a telling point. Does he agree that it is disappointing, given the ne...
Lord Touhig | 465 c222 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that if a Government agency or an aspect of the operation of this Ho...
Alan Williams | 465 c222 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and the Sharman committee was set up to examine Government agencies that were not answerable to...
Edward Leigh | 465 c216-20 (Link to this contribution) That is certainly frustrating. As Chairman, I am trying to establish a greater focus on the Treasury...
Edward Leigh | 465 c215 (Link to this contribution) Well, there we are. Perhaps he made the mistake of standing up to a Minister on the first occasion; ...
Lord Touhig | 465 c216 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman share an impression that I have gained while serving on the Committee under ...
Philip Dunne | 465 c242 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, along with most other Members, will have had countless constituency cases where, as ...
Austin Mitchell | 465 c230-1 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was talking about the report on the Rural Payments ...
Angela Eagle | 465 c253 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has the better of me. We are dealing with 40 reports, and I cannot give him a det...
Richard Bacon | 465 c231-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to take part in the debate. I have been a member of the Committee for six years, an...
Alan Williams | 465 c221-2 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief because I want to touch on only two specific issues, but it would be remiss if, bef...
Subjects
Contracts Audit Finance Private sector Public sector Public expenditure National Audit Office Select committees Committee of Public Accounts
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