Modernising Medical Careers

Part of Opposition Day — [9th Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 5:23 pm on 24 April 2007.

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Photo of John Mann John Mann PPS (Rt Hon Richard Caborn, Minister of State), Department for Culture, Media & Sport 5:23, 24 April 2007

I am sure that there will not be any hon. Members who wish to leave the Chamber until they have had the benefit of hearing my contribution. No doubt those who do so will want to read it in the morning.

I wish to begin by declaring two interests. Of course, my family and I are users of the national health service, which we use, and will continue to use, exclusively. I am an unpaid member, too, of the editorial board of People Management, which is the leading human resources management magazine in the country.

I make the point because I note that there are two young and keenly engaged Ministers on the Front Bench. In the political traditions of this country, one of the problems faced by all Governments is that Ministers change so rapidly. That has always been the case. I have never fully understood the logic whereby successive Governments of all kinds have chosen to keep changing Ministers rapidly, with Ministers moving between different portfolios. That creates a potential problem for Ministers when they inherit the results of the actions of previous Ministers, in addition to the problem of mastering the brief. The point is not specific to the debate today. It applies to the technical issues that arise in attempting to hold the Government to account.

My suggestion to the Government and anyone else who cares to read Hansard tomorrow is that one of the big opportunities missed in the past 10 years, as it has been by successive Governments, and which I hope a change in Prime Minister will grasp, is that Ministers ought to be trained through, for example, the Henley Management college in effective leadership skills to equip them for the management of major Government Departments. This may be the only chance I have to put that on the record before a change of Prime Minister. It is an idea that I have held and discussed with Cranfield School of Management, Henley Management college and others. It is relevant to all parties. How we manage major Departments is fundamental to the effectiveness of Government.

My second observation is how comforting it is to have such a feeling of déjà vu with respect to union organisation and strength, and the solidarity of the closed shop. It is many years since I have witnessed such good union organisation. There are rumblings outside the House—only just outside—in traditional union style, and traditional union briefings. Traditional closed shop arguments have been accepted by the Government.

That takes me back to the time when I tried to negotiate for young engineering apprentices who were doing four years of training but were not guaranteed employment by engineering companies at the end of it. How jealous we were of Fleet street, where there was an age-old tradition of a trade being passed from father to son, apprentices being guaranteed work, and jobs for life. The changes that took place in the mid-1980s were bitterly resented by those families and particularly by the young workers, who perceived entry to that trade as a vocation for life. I see some resonance with the Government's acceptance of the arguments and their guarantees of employment for junior doctors.