Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

The hon. Lady is a doughty campaigner on this front and I commend her for it. The policy of central Government is to pay undisputed invoices within five days and to pass 30-day payment terms down the supply chain as a condition of contract. The situation is therefore improving. We encourage our prime contractors to pay more quickly than the 30-day commitment on a voluntary basis. We have tasked Departments with managing their contracts in a way that ensures that that happens. We also encourage SMEs that are not being paid by the prime contractor sufficiently quickly to let us know so that we can investigate.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

8. What progress he has made on the commitment in the “Open Public Services” White Paper of July 2011 to publish public service user satisfaction data on all providers from all sectors.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

T2. The Department for Work and Pensions has no right to data. Absurdly, its Ministers have banned Work programme providers from publishing any data on their performance. That is the opposite of this Minister’s open data policy. What is he doing about it?

[Mr Maude]

I will tell the right hon. Gentleman exactly what we are doing about it: we are following the processes set up by the last Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Maude of Horsham and Stephen Timms

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I have already said what we are planning to do in relation to the civil service. Obviously, local authorities must answer for their own affairs, but the guidance is that those arrangements should be reviewed regularly. I urge my hon. Friend to put pressure on his local authority to explain how it justifies spending money that should be spent on front-line public services supporting vulnerable people on subsidising trade union activity instead.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

What discussions has the Minister had with colleagues who are responsible for the Work programme about openness and transparency? They are yet to publish any performance data on the programme. Moreover, they have banned Work programme providers from publishing their own performance data, as many of them would like to do.

[Mr Maude]

All the indications are that the Work programme is a successful move, and I will make those representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. We are generally the most open Government ever. We lead the world in transparency and have gone much further than the Government of whom the right hon. Gentleman was a distinguished member ever dreamt of going.