Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Nick de Bois

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

At is best, the civil service is not a drag on the economy; it is an important component of the economy working successfully. The leadership of the civil service identified significant deficiencies in capability, which are now being addressed. Frankly, they had been left unaddressed for far too long. Urgent action is now being taken and we need to drive it through.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

4. What assessment he has made of the work of the National Citizen Service.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Nick de Bois

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

The hon. Lady is quite simply wrong. Serco has had no involvement whatsoever. It will be involved in some of the regions in the forthcoming—[Interruption.] There seems to be a certain amount of interest in this. Serco is in a partnership with voluntary organisations and it is the lead organisation in a minority. Most of the regions are being led by voluntary and community sector organisations, two of them by consortia of further education colleges. I hope the hon. Lady will welcome that.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

5. What his policy is on streamlining the procurement process to enable more small and medium-sized enterprises to secure Government contracts.

Civil Service Reform

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Nick de Bois

Tuesday 19th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I am very aware of the amazing work done by GCHQ and of the extraordinary talents that get attracted to Cheltenham, and by and large retained there, in support of work of the highest importance for the safety of the nation. There is certainly nothing that we are doing that will inhibit the ability of organisations such as GCHQ to do what is necessary to recruit and retain the very best.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

There are many talented public servants at all levels of the civil service, but will my right hon. Friend assure me that these plans will allow that talent to be recognised and advanced by rewarding innovation and successful outcomes?

[Mr Maude]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point—that the system does not always reward those who innovate. We make the point in the paper that no one’s career ever seems to suffer if they continue to preside over an inefficient status quo, but if people try something new that does not work, they can feel very exposed. We need to be as rigorous in examining, testing and challenging the status quo as we are with innovation and change. We need to be supportive of those who try new things. Not everything new that gets tried will work, but the best organisations learn at least as much from things that are tried and do not work as they do from things that are tried and do.