Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 November 1991.
Mr Geoffrey Lofthouse
, Pontefract and Castleford
12:00,
6 November 1991
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence his Department has acquired on the impact of the extension of compulsory competitive tendering on the quality of local authority services.
Mr Michael Heseltine
Secretary of State for Environment
We have published our proposals for extending compulsory competitive tendering to professional and other services in our consultation paper, "Competing for Quality: Competition in the Provision of Local Services". Our consideration of policy has been informed by research into the effects of the Local Government Act 1988 carried out by the Institute of Local Government Studies, and by a study of relevant local authority experience carried out by PA Consulting Group.
Mr Geoffrey Lofthouse
, Pontefract and Castleford
Will the Secretary of State confirm that there is evidence of deterioration in the quality of services? Will he confirm that some schools have had to close because of a lack of cleanliness, and that some contractors who bid low in order to defeat local authority tenders have had to pull out half way through the contract and let the local authority pick up the mess?
Mr Michael Heseltine
Secretary of State for Environment
Obviously, we are concerned to ensure that any infringements of safety standards or standards of health affected in such matters are carefully considered. If the hon. Gentleman would give me specific examples, of course I should treat them seriously.
Mr Geoffrey Dickens
, Littleborough and Saddleworth
Will my right hon. Friend tell the House truthfully whether, if his house needed painting, he would rather have the local council direct labour force or a private contractor paint it? We all know the answer. Why should the Opposition wish to inflict second best on their council tenants?
Mr Michael Heseltine
Secretary of State for Environment
I am a Tory; how could I tell I lie? If I wanted to have my house painted—every so often, like everybody else, I do—I should get competitive prices. I know that in doing so I should get the work well done and at the lowest possible price. If Labour authorities would understand that, we should get better value for money out of local government.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
