Government Digital Service Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Government Digital Service

Lord Clement-Jones Excerpts
Tuesday 13th October 2015

(9 years, 2 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Bridges of Headley Portrait Lord Bridges of Headley
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My Lords, the noble Lord makes an extremely good point and the Government are very focused on this, as is the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office today has announced the appointment of a new chief people officer who will lead HR, and I am sure he will put this at the top of his agenda.

Lord Clement-Jones Portrait Lord Clement-Jones (LD)
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My Lords, the GDS and GOV.UK have made a huge contribution to better government. We heard the Minister’s assurances about strategy, but can he give the House an absolute assurance that we are not going to return to a free-for-all where each government department sets up its own website again?

Lord Bridges of Headley Portrait Lord Bridges of Headley
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My Lords, the noble Lord makes an extremely good point. During the previous Government a number of websites were shut down—scores indeed—some of which were competing against each other. I hope this is not a party-political point, but I think we have all learnt the lessons from the early days of digital. We need to make sure we continue on the approach we have set.