Clause 5
Statistics and Registration Service Bill
9:00 am
David Gauke (South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
We are debating a long list of amendments. Indeed, I was somewhat worried that much of this sitting would be taken up by your reading out the list, Sir John, such was its considerable length.
Amendments Nos. 188 and 189 stand in my name and replicate what I proposed in amendments Nos. 186 and 187 with regard to non-executive members of the statistics board. Amendments Nos. 188 and 189 would apply the same approach to the National Statistician, who, as the Bill is drafted, will be appointed under the royal prerogative. I propose, in the first instance, that the appointment should be subject to the approvalof the parliamentary commission, with a right of veto—as my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet proposed in new clause 2—or, alternatively, that the parliamentary commission should at least produce a report, along the lines of the Select Committee on the Treasury, with respect to appointments to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. I would not be surprised if we ended up with something similar to the second approach, as a consequence of a Select Committee taking it upon itself to hold such hearings.
I do not want to rehearse all the arguments on that point again. When I made the case for the power of veto on Tuesday, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury said that it was appropriate that Ministers should play a role in appointments, because to do so was a function of the Executive. However, even under my proposal in amendment No. 188, Ministers would still play a role. They would still appoint, or at least propose the National Statistician, although not the number of non-executive members. The proposal would be made by Ministers and it would be for Parliament to confirm that appointment or otherwise. There would still be considerable powers in the hands of Ministers, although the Financial Secretary to the Treasury was making a broader point—that the making of such appointments is an executive function and that Ministers, as members of the Executive, should make that appointment.
The Financial Secretary’s argument is slightly conservative. We are living in times when we can be a little more radical in such matters. For instance, the Chancellor of the Exchequer made some remarks on the “Sunday AM” programme that are directly relevant to this debate:
“We do need a new settlement over these next few years between, if you like, the executive, the legislature—and that is the power of Parliament and the House of Commons—and people themselves”.
He continued:
“I think we’re moving to a new understanding over the next few years, of more accountable government, a stronger parliamentary democracy, and a more active population”.
One of the areas in which there is a greater rolefor Parliament and scope for greater accountabilityis in the exercise of the royal prerogative in making appointments. We have an opportunity, here and now, to begin that approach and to make an historic step forward in parliamentary accountability. Were the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to be sympathetic to that approach, his name would live on in posterity as that of a wise, far-sighted and radical Minister who recognised the importance of Parliament. He would become one of our constitutional heroes—if he is not already one for other reasons. I fear that this will be a missed opportunity, but I urge the Government to consider the proposal again.
I turn to other aspects of the amendments. Many of them seek to address what many outside observers see as a fundamental flaw. Confusion and potential conflicts of interest exist, as it seems that the statistics board will be conducting two sets of activities. First, it will be performing a scrutinising audit role; secondly, it will be publishing statistics, as the Office for National Statistics now does. One can read through the Billand come to the conclusion that the statistics boardis a scrutinising body, almost overlooking the factthat it will continue to perform the executive function of producing statistics. If the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West will forgive me—hon. Members will know that it is rare to find a more assiduous member of a Standing Committee—but in an intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet, he challenged her—