Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I pay warm tribute to what my hon. Friend has done to support the bringing of employment to the west midlands. He is a hugely energetic local Member of Parliament. Yes, the civil service does these things extremely well. It is a smaller civil service, but it is more effective than it was. I think its leadership would agree that there is still much more to do.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Central Ayrshire (Mr Donohoe) raised the issue of the Government closing down the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs office in his constituency. Why is the Minister closing down the HMRC office in my constituency, the Army recruitment centre in my constituency and the Crown courts in my constituency?

[Mr Maude]

As I said to the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire, every Department in Government has to look to its efficiency, make sure it can live within its means and do the job on behalf of the public. The civil service does not exist to provide employment; it exists to serve the public. We found that that can be done more efficiently and effectively, doing more and better for less. At the same time as employment in the public sector has fallen, it has risen in the private sector by 2.3 million.

Party Funding

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Chris Ruane

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I can guarantee that there will be a great deal more transparency about what dealings health companies have had with Government and Ministers than there will be about health service unions’ dealings with the Labour party.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

I know that I have used the phrase before, but does the Minister agree with me that the shenanigans over the weekend can be described only as a right old Eton mess?

[Mr Maude]

If that is the best the hon. Gentleman can do, I would not advise him to give it another outing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 14th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

In the first year following the forming of the coalition Government, we cut carbon emissions by more than the 10% target that we had set ourselves. We have also committed ourselves to ensuring that carbon emissions from Government buildings—Government property—fall by no less than 25% during the current Parliament, and I am confident that we will fulfil that commitment.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

The Electoral Commission announced today that there are not 3 million but 6 million missing, unregistered voters. Does the Minister agree that the equalisation of seats should be postponed, or suspended, until a full investigation has been conducted to establish where those 6 million people are?

[Mr Maude]

I very much regret the fact that in the 13 years for which the hon. Gentleman’s party was in office, it did absolutely nothing to address that problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

Will the big society bank give grants as well as loans, and will the loans be set at commercial or preferential rates?

[Mr Maude]

The big society bank will not make grants. It is a bank, so it will make loans and provide investment capital for this important and growing sector. One of the problems in the social investment market has been that Futurebuilders was able to give both grants and loans, which was very distorting for the large and growing number of intermediaries in that market. The bank should be an investment organisation, not a giver of grants.