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  • Francis Maude – 2013 Speech on Public Service Reform

    Francis Maude
    Francis Maude

    Below is the text of a speech made by the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, in South Africa on 3rd April 2013.

    I’m pleased to have this opportunity to talk to you today, about what I believe will one day be the defining characteristic of future public policy in nations across the world –

    Transparency.

    This would have been a wild statement to make twenty or even ten years ago.

    Transparency was something politicians only used to embrace in Opposition. Or at most in their first twelve months of Government, when they were just exposing their predecessor’s failings. After that enthusiasm would fade.

    Traditionally Governments of every time and place haven’t liked releasing information that would let people know exactly what they were up to.

    However in the last twenty years something momentous has occurred – the World has opened up. Advances in technology have made data the privilege of the many rather than the few.

    And data is a resource – the new raw material of the 21st Century. Its value is in holding Governments to account; creating choices and efficiencies in public services; and inspiring innovation and enterprise that drives growth.

    My Government is committed to transparency – it is at the heart of our reforming agenda in the UK-

    – And as the current lead chair of the international Open Government Partnership we are promoting transparency as a means to fight corruption and drive prosperity all over the world.

    South Africa is of course one of the founding members of the OGP, like the UK, and is a dedicated and active member of the OGP’s Steering Committee; you play a central role in promoting transparency across the rest of Africa.

    South Africa recently ranked second for the transparency and accountability of its budget processes, in the latest Open Budget Index Survey – just ahead of the UK in third. I’m certain that our two countries have much to learn from each other – and much to share with the rest of the world.

    And I hope today I can provide you with some useful insights into how the UK Government is pushing transparency and Open Data as part of our reforming agenda. And I will also outline our vision for the OGP; what we’re hoping to achieve as chair in these coming months and why we’ll need your support.

    But firstly I’d like to give you a bit of context and explain why this agenda is so important to my country.

    The UK Government is a reforming Government – by choice and necessity.

    Like many nations we are facing huge economic challenges today.

    The UK experienced the biggest increase in debt of any major economy in the last decade.

    When we came into power the state was spending £4 for every £3 in revenue. The Government was having to borrow £1 in every £4 just to keep the lights on, the pensions paid, teachers in schools, doctors and nurses in hospitals.

    Our immediate priority was to tackle the deficit we’d inherited – and earn back Britain’s financial credibility. Three years on and we have made significant progress at putting the nation’s finances on a more stable footing – cutting the deficit by a third.

    As a result budgets are tight, and will continue to be tight, across our public sector and there is unprecedented pressure to make the right choices about how public money is spent.

    In response, we are implementing a radical programme of economic and public service reform – based on a tight-loose model of Government. This means on one hand you have tight central control over key areas of public spend like procurement, IT, property and marketing – to ensure you drive down costs and get the best value for money.

    Make no mistake – implementing tight spending controls across Government hasn’t been easy. But it’s delivering – real cashable efficiencies. In our first ten months in office we saved what was then an unprecedented £3.75 billion from central Government spend. And in the 2011-12 financial year we saved a further £5.5 billion. By 2015 we want to be saving in the order of £20billion a year.

    But this is only one half of our agenda – we want to build public services that are cheaper – yes. But also better, more innovative and more catered to the user’s needs.

    This means for other areas we are devolving power – the loose part of the model. We are breaking down the traditional central monopoly on providing public services and bringing in more flexibility and choice for users, and more local control over the way they are run.

    That means allowing charities, social enterprises, private companies and employee-owned co-operatives to compete to offer people high quality services.

    In Britain all of this is a huge change to the way things have been done in the past. And in order for us to deliver the scale of efficiency and reform we need – the whole organisation of Government needs to change too.

    Last summer I published a Civil Service Reform Plan that sets out how our Civil Service will become smaller, flatter, faster, more focused on outcome not process, more digital, more unified, more accountable for delivery, more capable, better managed with better performance management and, finally, more fun to work for.

    This won’t happen all at once but we are already implementing a number of actions to create a 21st Century Civil Service. For example at the moment despite over 80% of our population being online – people tend to interact with Government on paper, on the phone, or in person, at less convenience to them and more expense to us.

    Why? Because our online services are generally either not good enough or non-existent. But this is changing. We are implementing a digital by default agenda that will make it easier for people to do things like pay their car tax, book driving tests, complete tax returns, or apply for their state pension online. And this digital transformation will also generate billions of savings for the taxpayer.

    All of these reforms have a running theme: a willingness to embrace new ideas and radical ways of working that put the citizen first. Whether that’s rooting out inefficiencies to save taxpayer money; or encouraging public sector workers to spin out and create their own employee-owned services; or creating more convenient online services.

    And underpinning our reforming agenda – is an overriding commitment to transparency.

    This has three important benefits. Firstly, transparency drives efficient and accountable Government-

    When we first came into office there were huge gaps public spending data. Despite our best efforts, no one could accurately tell us where the money was going –

    – And it turned out we were losing billions of pounds to debt, fraud and error every year. We weren’t buying efficiently – consistently handing out gold-plated contracts to big suppliers and shutting out smaller but cost-effective firms. And far too much cash was being thrown away on ill-thought out IT projects, unnecessary consultants and frivolous advertising.

    The collection of good quality, accurate, comparable data is now a priority across Government – and we are consistently exposing this data to the light of day.

    We have started a regular publication of central department spending data over £25,000 and local government spending over £500. This ensures government, and the way it spends tax money, can be held to account on a day to day basis – not just at election time.

    We also publish Quarterly Data Summaries that give a snapshot of how each of our departments is spending its budget, the results it has achieved and how it is deploying its workforce.

    Collecting this Management Information – and using it – is extremely important. Resources for our public services will continue to be tight – and we need to clearly see where public money is going and what impact it has, so we can make the right decisions for the future.

    Secondly, by exposing what is inadequate – transparency can also drive improvement in public services-

    – For example a few years ago a heart surgeon Sir Bruce Keogh made history when he persuaded his colleagues to publish comparable data on their individual clinical outcomes – a global first.

    Seven years later dramatic improvements in survival rates were reported – with more than a third of patients living when they might have previously expected to have died in some procedures.

    This bold act of professional transparency simply transformed the results of heart surgery in the UK.

    Over the last three years my Government has committed to releasing more and more public data to give our citizens real choice over their public services for the first time-

    – Our web portal Data.gov.uk is the largest data resource in the world with over 40,000 data files.

    People can scrutinise their local crime statistics; they can compare GP practice performance in handling cancer cases; parents can judge how successful particular schools and colleges are at advancing pupils on to further learning.

    Thirdly, transparency drives economic and social growth; by opening up data, that would previously been left under-analysed and under-used, to a new generation of innovative data entrepreneurs.

    For example in the UK we are releasing prescribing data by GP practise, which is proving of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry and data and analytics companies working with health data.

    We are also helping to improve medical knowledge and practice with world-first linked-data services which will enable healthcare impacts to be tracked across the entire Health Service.

    And we are releasing real-time train and bus information to support the development of innovative applications to improve passenger journeys.

    And companies large and small are using this data to create innovative, products and applications.

    For example a small UK-based firm started using live data from local councils to help drivers identify free car parking spaces. The firm called Parkopedia have grown to become the world’s leading source of parking information covering more than 20 million spaces in 25 countries.

    So transparency is not just a grand sounding theory that is, in practise, academic. It really makes a difference in all kinds of ways – from saving lives, to improving public services, to simply making life more convenient.

    And across the world transparency is having a huge impact in all kind of ways.

    In Mongolia they now publish all their mining contracts that were previously siphoned into the offshore bank accounts of a mafia clique. The result has been increasing investment in education and health.

    To support citizen engagement, the Budget department of the Philippine government has committed to releasing a yearly “People’s Budget”, a summarized and layman version of the National Budget and the national budget process.

    In Tanzania the government has created a web-based water point mapping system for local government to help them provide better services to their citizens.

    And here in South Africa I know you are taking forward a number of commitments:

    – Such as enhancing the role of civil society organisations in the budgetary process;

    – Developing a Citizen Participation guideline that would ensure that every public sector department had a strong citizen engagement unit for proactively engaging with civil society groups;

    – And establishing Service Delivery Improvement Forums where citizens can provide report cards on public service delivery for areas like primary health care, water, sanitation, environmental management.

    South Africa is of course absolutely central to the transparency agenda across Africa. I understand one of your priorities as Chair of the Kimberley Process to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, is to improve the transparency of the processes regulating conflict diamonds. This is hugely important work.

    One of the UK’s ambitions during its time as chair of the Open Government Partnership is to showcase to the world how transparency and participation drive economic growth, well-being and prosperity.

    That means sharing stories of success like these – and also importing and exporting our transparency techniques, lessons learnt and best practise to every corner of the globe.

    We’re at the beginning of a global movement towards transparency, you can see many positive examples around the world – but of course there is no room for complacency.

    In the year since its launch the OGP has made big strides with 58 members signed up – and of those 46 have published ambitious action plans setting out transparency commitments; and many of the rest will be joining us in London later this month to present their new plans to the OGP Steering Committee.

    But after all the enthusiasm and rhetoric of the first year – we’ve got to turn words into action. Otherwise we risk just being a talking shop – where Governments pat themselves on the back for making grand-sounding commitments.

    The success or failure of the OGP does not of course hinge on pushing Governments into making big promises on transparency – it hinges on whether they will deliver on their promises.

    Genuine transparency will always demand external scrutiny.

    And the OGP’s value will lie in supporting domestic reformers within and outside of government to promote transparency – providing them with a lever to help ensure that their voices are amplified and heard at the highest levels.

    The loudest voices for transparency have long come from civil society organisations. The involvement of leading Civil Society groups in the OGP is what gives it authority.

    But this involvement must translate into something tangible.

    This is why the key priority for the UK during our time as Chair is to establish an Independent Reporting Mechanism that will give civil society groups the platform to provide real third party scrutiny to Governments.

    This work will be driven by an independent Expert Panel, led as you know by Graca Machel, the former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Sudanese-born entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim.

    We expect the first IRM reports on the 8 founding countries for the OGP – including the UK and South Africa– to be published at our plenary in October next year.

    This is a crucial step –

    – And it’s important the UK, South Africa and other leading nations really lead by example.

    I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that South Africa makes the OGP a stronger organisation by its membership particularly in the light of your important regional leadership role and as a member of BRICs. Your outreach efforts in particular will continue to be vital.

    And by working together and being ambitious – we can establish the OGP as a really credible international organisation that genuinely makes Governments better–

    – One that countries around the world will aspire to join-

    – And member countries feel compelled to deliver against their action plans.

    Of course no one can claim that transparency is easy for Governments – it isn’t. It’s tricky, difficult and often uncomfortable – but it also sticks, once you start you can’t go back.

    And with all the challenges we face today – economic challenges, security challenges, climate change – we will increasingly rely on transparency and data sharing to make us more informed, more agile, more efficient.

    But as I’ve set out today: the prize for pursuing transparency will be effective, personalised, 21st century democracy; stronger, more sustainable economies and better public services for our citizens. That’s why – the future is Open.

  • Francis Maude – 2013 Speech on Digital Government

    Francis Maude
    Francis Maude

    Below is the text of the speech made by the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 21st January 2013.

    In just two decades, we’ve seen our world completely transformed by the digital revolution – email, online shopping, Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, Twitter, are now essential to our working and social lives.

    Globally, over two billion people are online, with billions more set to join them in the next decade.

    In the UK the vast majority – 82% – of us are online.

    Unsurprisingly, the best entrepreneurs and businesses moved fast to grasp the opportunities of a digital age – these days, British Airways does everything online that isn’t about flying aeroplanes.

    In contrast, government took a lot longer to get it. When you think of the benefits of the Digital Age – the plummeting costs of technology; the massive consumer choice; the exciting new innovations – unfortunately, you wouldn’t associate them with government services. In Whitehall, IT suppliers and system integrators have increased their costs. Yet services have remained patchy at best.

    People who shop, bank and do their social networking online, interact with government on the phone, in person or on paper, at less convenience to them and at more cost to us. It’s a raw deal for everyone.

    This government has made it a priority to bring Whitehall into the 21st century. And as you will see and hear today – the digital transformation of government has begun.

    We are catching up with the private sector, with plans to build simple, fast, cost-effective online services that are designed around the user’s needs.

    We are also changing the way we procure and run our technology systems – using a wider group of smaller, more innovative and more cost-effective suppliers.

    And to ensure that these reforms succeed we are embedding digital expertise into our organisational DNA – building a Civil Service that is digital by default in our skills, style and how we communicate and deliver services.

    Digital government

    This kind of culture change doesn’t happen overnight. There is no doubt the Digital by Default agenda is a huge challenge – but it is also a huge opportunity.

    I don’t need to remind you that we are living in constrained financial times – we’ve cleared a quarter of the huge deficit we inherited in two years, but the job isn’t done yet, and budgets across the public sector will continue to be tight.

    At the same time consumer expectations for services are rising and we need to find new, innovative solutions so we can deliver more for less. The digital by default agenda will play a key role in this.

    At the moment, government provides more than 650 transactional services serving about 1 billion users per year – but there are only a handful where a large majority of people who could use the online option do so. Half don’t offer a digital option at all – and apart from a handful of services, if there is a digital option few people use it because it’s not sufficiently fast or convenient.

    This is clearly inefficient. For some government services, the average cost of a digital transaction is almost 20 times lower than the cost of a telephone transaction, about 30 times lower than the cost of a postal transaction, and about 50 times lower than a face-to-face transaction.

    And it’s also a bad deal for customers, who increasingly expect to be able to use services at a time and place that’s convenient for them – digital is not just another channel, it is the delivery choice for this generation.

    In the future, like the best businesses, we are committed to delivering services online wherever possible, to cut costs and put our customers in control.

    This does not mean we will neglect the people who do not have online access – every single government service will still be available to everyone through our assisted digital programme, which will ensure no one is left behind.

    But at the same time we are determined to build fast, clear, simple digital services that are so good that people who are online will choose to use them.

    Digital strategy

    In November I published a new Government Digital Strategy – an action plan for making us digital by default in everything we do, and departments have since published their own digital strategies setting out how they will transform their services.

    This process is being kicked off by the seven main transactional departments – DfT, HMRC, Defra, DWP, BIS, Home Office and MoJ – who handle around 90% of all central government transactions.

    Between them they will start work on transforming over 20 exemplar services by April this year, and the new digital services will be fully implemented by March 2015.  By the end of the next Spending Review period (2018), we expect all government services handling over 100,000 transactions a year to be digital by default.

    The first wave of services going digital include:

    – a new and, for the first time, entirely online tax self-assessment service to make it easier for people doing tax returns

    – to make it easier for people to volunteer we are planning a more straightforward online applications process for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

    – candidates for the National Apprenticeship Service will be able to search more easily for vacancies and apply online, while employers will be able to advertise vacancies and identify suitable candidates

    – and entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes will be able to register, track and manage patents and trade-marks and designs more swiftly and straightforwardly online with the Intellectual Property Office

    These plans and many more are showcased today – what links each one is that these services are being redesigned around what users need to get done, not around the ways government want them to do it.

    The government’s new single web domain, GOV.UK, which was launched last year, has led the way on this. GOV.UK is simpler, clearer and faster for users looking for government services and information. And it costs taxpayers at least £50 million less per year than the services it replaces.

    The Government Digital Service will also be publishing a Digital by Default service standard that will describe what the new digital services must achieve. This will be released in April and from 2014 any service which fails to meet the standard will not be launched.

    There is no expectation that this overhaul of the way we work and the services we deliver will be easy – but there are huge benefits. We estimate that by shifting the transactional services offered by central government departments from offline to digital channels we can make £1.2 billion of potential annual savings from now until 2015 and £1.7 billion a year beyond 2015.

    Open government

    On top of these savings, redesigning our services to be digital by default is also an opportunity to secure greater value for government, by changing how we commission and run our services.

    In the past, government’s IT projects were too big, lengthy, risky and complex – plagued by budget overruns, delays and failures. Contracts were consistently awarded to a limited number of very large suppliers on long-term, exclusive contracts.

    The result was huge amounts of money spent on government IT – as much as £20 billion a year based on some estimates – but a failure to deliver more digital, cost-effective, user-focused services.

    Meanwhile, the UK’s burgeoning digital technology sector and its wide range of highly skilled and innovative companies, including many SMEs, were being shut out of the government procurement market; thanks to the high barriers to entry and complex, expensive and time-consuming bidding processes.

    This is changing. We are moving away from legacy IT and our reliance on a few large system integrators. And introducing smaller contracts; shorter terms; a more diverse supplier community that is welcoming to SMEs; open standards; open source; and more use of commodity.

    For example, government’s CloudStore, which allows public sector organisations to purchase a range of the best IT services off the shelf on a “pay-as-you-go” basis, rather than having to develop their own systems.

    To date, there have been over £4m in sales of IT services through the CloudStore and, encouragingly, 60% of this spend, over £2m, has been with SMEs.

    The Digital Strategy further sets out that the Cabinet Office will build on existing procurement reform to develop new commissioning arrangements for digital projects, to encourage a wider range of bidders, including SMEs, and a more competitive marketplace.

    Civil service reform

    Clearly, momentum is building on this agenda – but we have a lot further to go, and success hinges on us really bringing about a culture change in every corner of Whitehall.

    Strong leadership will be essential. Every other industry which has transformed itself to survive and prosper in a digital age, from BA to Barclays, Amazon to M&S, has done so with innovative, entrepreneurial leadership driving those businesses.

    I’m pleased to say all departments are now committed to establishing a digital leader with board-level clout to oversee their respective digital transformations. These leaders will need to be bold, pioneering and ready to challenge the status quo.

    We are also recruiting skilled, experienced service managers – a new role in the civil service – who will be responsible for the new digital services, and they will be supported by specialist training from GDS.

    But we realise we can’t just rely on a few people with specialist digital skills. We need to embed digital skills and awareness and enthusiasm at every level of the Civil Service.

    This was a key priority set out in the Civil Service Reform Plan published last summer, and a number of actions are now being taken forward with some individual departments leading the way.

    For example, MOJ have established a Digital Services Division to provide services such as strategic advice and specialist design and delivery skills. While BIS is conducting a full audit of departmental digital capability to ensure it has the skills required across the department and its agencies.

    We are looking at incorporating digital skills into competencies and personal development plans for civil servants; building digital opportunities into future leaders’ and fast streamers’ development and developing a Civil Service-wide digital awareness programme.

    And we are also considering options for digital apprentice schemes to support entry level digital skills within government.

    These reforms, once implemented, will all help to build an exceptional 21st century civil service – capable of delivering the 21st century services that this country deserves.

    Conclusion

    For too long, the public sector lagged behind the private sector when it came to exploiting the opportunities of a Digital Age. Money was pumped into government IT – but this investment failed to deliver more efficient, user-friendly services.

    Instead, government IT developed a reputation for big, costly failures.

    The good news, as I’ve outlined today, is that this is changing. Thanks to the work of many individuals – including the government’s Digital Advisors from the business world, our UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox, and innovative Digital Leaders and civil servants within departments.

    We are not where we need to be yet, but we will be – we are opening up to new technologies, innovative ideas and diverse business models for delivering better services for less money.

    And, eventually, we are aiming to set a worldwide standard for digital delivery that other governments around the world will aspire to.

    That’s our challenge – it will be difficult but it will be worth it. And I want to urge everyone working in government to get on board – be radical, pioneering and ambitious – as we build a digital revolution within Whitehall.

  • Francis Maude – 1983 Maiden Speech to the House of Commons

    Francis Maude
    Francis Maude

    Below is the text of the maiden speech made by Francis Maude in the House of Commons on 27th October 1983.

    I cannot hope to match the rhetoric of the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden), who spoke with great passion. I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity in this debate to make my maiden speech. I am not quite the last of the new intake of Members to get off the mark, though the list of those who have not done so is gradually diminishing.

    My constituency is more recreated than new. It has been absent from the political map of Great Britain for about 98 years. It disappeared under the hand of the Boundary Commission of 1885. I would be delighted to follow the convention of paying tribute to my predecessors from that time, but, even in the healthy climes of Warwickshire, North, I have not been able to find anyone who remembers them.

    Warwickshire, North was created from two previous parliamentary seats—the old seat of Meriden and the old seat of Nuneaton. It has been used to a high standard of parliamentary representation. The old seat of Meriden was one of the most marginal seats in Britain and changed sides politically at each election. It had a series of talented and hard-working Members of Parliament, including my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Mr. Speed), my hon. Friend the Member for the new seat of Meriden (Mr. Mills) and, between them, Mr. John Tomlinson, who was my Labour opponent in June. All three of them served their constituencies and the House with distinction. They worked for their constituents most conscientiously and all are remembered in Warwickshire, North with gratitude and affection.

    The Member who represented the old Nuneaton constituency, from which I have the town of Bedworth, was Mr. Les Huckfield, who I believe worked hard for his constituents wherever they were. I am sure that he will make his involuntary absence from the House a temporary one.

    It is customary to talk about one’s constituency and I find it a pleasure to do so. It is in the area of the west midlands which is precariously balanced between but excluding Birmingham, Coventry, Nuneaton and Tamworth. It contains a wide range of activities and occupations. There is an example of virtually everything except, I think, deep-sea fishing. There are four flourishing coalmines with industrious and extremely realistic work forces. There are many square miles of extremely efficiently husbanded farmland. There is a multitude of small, specialised and innovative engineering firms, about whose interests I shall have much to say on other occasions. It contains a number of towns and villages which are expanding and which are providing housing for people working in Birmingham and Coventry. All in all, it is a demanding, stimulating and delightful constituency which I am proud to represent.

    The Health Service is increasingly perceived not to be short of resources. There is a mismatch between needs and resources. This explains the apparent paradox that there are too many acute hospital beds while there are still long but, I am glad to say, decreasing waiting lists. There are thousands of beds in acute hospitals that are not being used by those who need acute medicinal care.

    About 20 years ago provision was made for people not in need of acute care in cottage hospitals, which we now have to call community hospitals. Nursing care was provided with overall medical supervision from general practitioners. In our wisdom, we chose to get rid of them, but they had many advantages. I believe that in future we shall have to look towards that sort of provision if we are to match needs to resources. The cottage hospitals were cheap to run and they were local. That was especially important in rural areas where people wanted to visit elderly relatives in hospital. The fact that they were close to the areas that they served was an enormous advantage. They were small and because of that they were efficient and cheap to run.

    The problem is to decide how we shall pay for that sort of hospital. We must look to much more effective management of resources within the Health Service. There are many parts of the service which are overmanned and it is folly to ignore that unfortunate fact. These areas are not overmanned only by ancillary workers. In some parts of the service there is an over-provision of medical resources and, as I have said, we must match resources to needs.

    There is a massive inertia built into the present NHS management structure. I served for a short period as a member of a district health authority shortly after the reorganisation of the NHS. It took an extraordinarily long time for any changes to be made. I believe that the fault lay with the system of consensus management which arose in the early 1970s. No one person carried final responsibility for what actually happened. Members of the district management team took it in turns to act as chairman of the team, and that meant that the system had inefficiency built deep into its structure. I am delighted that the Griffiths report recommends the appointment of chief executives and general managers, who will carry the can for the units that they run. This is an essential step if we are to get inefficiency out of the system.

    Many part-time members of district health authorities do a good job, but even those with a will to do so have difficulty in rooting out inefficiency. They do not have the time to do so and in many instances management is incapable of providing the information on which they need to act. It came as no surprise to some of us that in the recent review a number of authorities were unable to provide figures and information on the number of people that they employed. If anyone in the private sector tried to run a business in that way, he would not be around for long. It is astonishing that such a situation was allowed to continue for so long. It is a source of delight to me—and it should be to the entire House—that dramatic and radical action is being taken to improve the level of efficiency of management.

    There exists an attitude which has fossilised the way in which we view the National Health Service. The idea seems to be propounded by Opposition Members that it is uncaring and uncompassionate even to contemplate the possibility that the Health Service is working at less than full efficiency. It is as though, in allocating money to the Health Service, one puts a label on it saying “NHS”, and then one cannot follow where it goes. One cannot find out how it is spent. One assumes that because it goes to the Health Service it is automatically going to a good cause. One does not improve the Health Service just by pumping in money to make the statistics look better. The Health Service exists to provide a service to patients, and we must make sure that the money goes where it is needed.

    It is therefore folly, when a private contractor can provide an ancillary service better than the direct labour force, to set one’s face against it. The right hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Kinnock) made a number of points in his passionate speech about the way in which private contractors can operate. One cannot guarantee that a private contractor will provide a perfect service, any more than one can guarantee that a direct labour force will provide an adequate and efficient service. The difference is that if a private contractor falls down on the job it is possible to replace him immediately. As the privatisation of ancillary services develops, there will be an increasingly large number of firms which are able to take on the work at short notice. There will be competition and efficiency in those important services.

    Discussions about the National Health Service have been surrounded for some years by a cloud of muddle and cant. Now we have to tackle the real problem, not so much of shortage of resources as of making sure that the resources we have go where they are needed. That is the challenge for the future, and it is a challenge that the House must face.

  • Viscount Melbourne – Speech Following Assassination Attempt on Queen Victoria

    Below is the text of the speech made in the House of Lords on 11th June 1840 following an attempt to kill Queen Victoria.

    My Lords, your Lordships have all, doubtless, heard, with that deep sorrow and concern, with that mingled surprise, horror, and indignation which such an event is calculated to produce, of that with which it is now my duty formally and officially to acquaint you – that a desperate attempt on her Majesty’s life was made yesterday evening, as she was proceeding from the palace to the park. Two pistols were fired at her in the most determined and most desperate manner, at no great distance from her person, and it is only matter of wonder that the event was not more unfortunate and melancholy.

    My Lords, on all former occasions of a similar nature, of which, unfortunately, there are in the recent history of our country but too many examples, it has always been the custom of your Lordships to address the Throne to express the horror which you feel at the attempt which has been made, and to congratulate the Sovereign on the happy and fortunate escape which has taken place. Upon all former occasions such are the precedents; and your Lordships, therefore, I am sure, will not be in the least surprised, that I should seize the earliest opportunity of your Lordships’ meeting – without any notice – to call upon your Lordships to follow on this occasion, the usual course.

    At the same time, I feel that it is unnecessary for me, and that it would be, in some degree, improper to expatiate any further on the circumstances, or upon what might have been the consequences of the unfortunate event which has taken place. This matter is now in course of investigation; it must be matter of judicial inquiry, and under such circumstances, it would ill become either me to address the House, or your Lordships to hear, any observations which could, in the slightest degree, interfere with the calm, the deliberate, the dignified, and impartial course of public justice, I shall, therefore, content myself with moving:- “That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, to express our horror and indignation at the late atrocious and treasonable attempt against her Majesty’s sacred person, and our heartfelt congratulations to her Majesty and the country, on her Majesty’s happy preservation from so great a danger, to express our deep concern at there having been found within her Majesty’s dominions a person capable of so flagitious an act, and that we make it our earnest prayer to Almighty God, that as he has preserved to us the blessings that we enjoy under her Majesty’s just and mild government, be will continue to watch over a life so justly dear to us.

  • Esther McVey – 2013 Speech on Measuring Child Poverty

    The below speech was made by the Minister for Disabled People, Esther McVey, at a Child Poverty Consultation Event in Liverpool on 14th January 2013.

    Thank you all for coming today to feed into the Government’s consultation on measuring child poverty.

    As MP for Wirral West, I know the passion and expertise with which your organisations work with children in poverty in the North West. I share that passion with you, and today is your chance to be the voice of our local children on a national stage.

    I’ll ensure that your views are heard in Westminster and taken into account. The Government knows that the knowledge needed to tackle child poverty doesn’t lie in Whitehall, it lies with people like you.

    This is why it’s great to be here at Our Place today. Youth centres like this play a big role in improving the lives and life chances of our children and young people. With 32 per cent of Knowsley’s children living in poverty, these services really are invaluable.

    As Minister for Disabled People, I’m particularly impressed by the services offered here to young people with disabilities, allowing them to integrate more fully into the youth community here.

    The child poverty consultation was launched on 15 November 2012 by Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, and Schools Minister, David Laws.

    It’s a real example of the coalition commitment to thinking seriously about child poverty. Two years on, the coalition remains strong, determined and driven to improve children’s lives.

    Here in Merseyside, 27 per cent of children live in families with below 60 per cent of median income.

    Of course, income matters.

    But in my work with children and young people, I’ve seen time and time again that poverty isn’t simply about income. As frontline workers and advocates for children in poverty, you know this even better than me.

    But last year, statistics showed that 300,000 children in the UK were moved out of poverty. This wasn’t because of improvements in their standard of living or life chances. Instead, it was due to a fall in national median income which pushed the poverty line down.

    Those children who moved over the poverty line had no more experiences, no improved opportunities, and no better lives than they did before.

    This shows that we need a better measure of child poverty, one that won’t change simply because of the state of the economy.

    This consultation is about addressing the real drivers of child poverty.

    The income-focussed measures in the Child Poverty Act can’t capture the experience of growing up in poverty, or the barriers to escaping this poverty. A better measure will widen our perspective to show what life is really like for children in poverty today.

    Through this we can try to make changes that really transform children’s lives. We need to look at what causes poverty, and so help people find a way out of that poverty.

    Worklessness is one of these causes.

    The coalition is united on the importance of work. Work is central to wellbeing. It’s one of the best ways to increase independence and self-esteem, and is central to someone’s identity.

    As Minister for Disabled People, I’ve seen how innovative schemes enabling vulnerable groups to re-enter the workforce can have a real effect on people’s lives.

    This is echoed throughout the Government. Getting people back to work and helping them live independent lives really is a coalition priority.

    A record number of people are in work and one million private-sector jobs have been created since the Election. The number of people out of work has also fallen by 82,000 in the last quarter. We know times are tough and there’s still more to be done, but we are making progress.

    Not everyone, of course, is well equipped to find work. That’s why areas like parental skill level are included in this consultation.

    Some parents, keen as they are to work, are constrained by a lack of qualifications or experience.

    Children need their parents to be role models if they are to get these qualifications and experiences themselves.

    And small businesses need these qualifications and experiences to function.

    If we can address low parental skill level then we can better tackle poverty for the whole family, both parents and children.

    Of course, families matter in other ways as well.

    The family stability dimension of this consultation shows just how big an impact family breakdown can have on some children’s lives It’s not just economic – where some children are drawn into parental conflict they’re more likely to suffer poor outcomes, doing less well at school and being more likely to run away from home. There’s the issue of role models too.

    Similarly, high levels of unmanageable debt can be a burden on the whole family. A family trapped in spiralling debt may not have the money left to meet their basic needs, but this is something that the current child poverty measure doesn’t take into consideration.

    Then there’s education. Children whose hopes and dreams are stifled by a failing school simply don’t have the same chances as children who are supported every step of the way by inspirational teachers and role models.

    These role models can come from school, but they’re also found all over.  Employers, the family, the local community – they’re all fundamental in our children’s lives. And that’s why places like OurPlace are just so important.

    Whether it’s worklessness, debt, ill health, family instability or educational failure, across the Coalition we’re taking action to address the barriers that hold children back.

    A better measure of child poverty will enable us to better address the causes and consequences of poverty and lead to real transformative change.

    Of course, money matters, and no measure of child poverty will overlook this. But other things matter too, and this is what the Coalition is hoping to illustrate in its new measure of child poverty.

    Thank you.

  • Iain McNicol – 2012 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Below is the text of the speech made by Iain McNicol, the General Secretary of the Labour Party, to the Labour Party conference on 30th September 2012.

    Conference, this has been year of real success.

    A year of real change.

    In May we saw over 800 new Labour councillors elected.

    Labour now running Southampton, Great Yarmouth and Harlow.

    We’ve seen strong leads in the polls.

    We have improved in our party finances, allowing us to invest for the future.

    And we have made bold changes to refresh and strengthen our senior team.

    We are now one party, one team to deliver a one term opposition.

    I want to start by paying a special tribute to our outgoing chair of the NEC, Michael Cashman – his personal support and commitment to change has been unwavering.

    But this is about you: your effort, your energies and your enthusiasm for new ways of campaigning have delivered for Labour.

    You are the people who’ve protected libraries.

    You are the people who’ve clamped down on anti-social behaviour.

    You are the people who’ve helped debt-ridden families avoid the risks of legal loan sharks.

    And that is why I am confident the change our party and country needs will become a reality.

    But Conference, with two-and-a-half years before a general election now is no time to be complacent.

    Because we have a huge challenge.

    Politics is fractured and needs mending.

    Earlier we stood in silence to remember those of our friends who have passed away this year including the fantastic Philip Gould.

    I remember him once saying politics was like a vital football match being played out between the reds and the blues. But as the players fight for every ball, strain for every goal, the crowd is drifting away.

    The game goes on, but the stadium is emptying.

    Soon there’ll be nobody left.

    But politics is too important to leave to wither.

    Too vital to let media cynicism win. To allow demagogues and charlatans take the stage.

    Too many have fought, and too many have died for us to let democratic politics fade.

    We’ve all heard it on the doorstep – you’ve heard it, I’ve heard it – far too often: the charge that all parties are the same.

    It breaks my heart, when I know how different we are.

    And the cynicism that declares that politics can’t make any difference to people’s lives.

    This makes me angry, when I see the change that politics can make.

    Our legacy is the Sure Start centres, the new schools, the thousands more doctors and nurses – that’s the difference our politics has made.

    Ed Miliband has set out an ambitious programme to rebuild our economy and recast our society; to tame markets where they do damage and build modern communities.

    The political crisis we face is as big as the financial crisis, and just as urgent and pressing. It requires action every bit as bold.

    My argument is simple: if we want a strong society and a fair economy, we first need a vibrant politics.

    What I see is a party ready for change.

    Every single one of us needs to be able to answer this question: what are you going to do to persuade people to support us in 2015?

    Before, it was all about leaflets, door-knocking, making sure posters were up all across town.

    I do ask for this. But I ask for more, much more.

    Because this great Party of ours needs to change more profoundly than we have for a generation.

    Some will say: it’s too difficult.

    Some will say: it won’t work.

    I say: without this change we won’t win on the scale we need.

    Let’s be clear. I don’t want to sneak a win on points. I want to deliver that knock-out punch. I want this Coalition out – and I mean all of them.

    I want to see Cameron, Clegg and Cable carried out of the ring.

    In the election campaigns we are fighting to win in November – for new MPs, for new Police Commissioners, and for a new Mayor in Bristol – we need to be that change. Build relationships and earn trust. And if we do we will help rebuild a fractured politics.

    Just ask Jess Phillips – a young mum who got her neighbours together to build the community spirit to tackle the anti-social behaviour that was blighting her street.

    Now a Labour councillor, elected in 2012, able to bring more change and more support to the community she loves and cares about.

    To deliver it we will have 200 community organisers across the UK.

    They reach out to people ignored for years.

    They don’t just ask for their vote.

    They ask for their views.

    They construct real campaigns to solve real problems.

    And the results can be spectacular – they get people campaigning who’ve never done it before.

    This is also why we need parliamentary candidates in place as soon as possible. A candidate provides leadership, focus and drive for the campaign.

    The longer we give them, the greater the chance of success.

    That’s why we will have 100 candidates selected in the coming months.

    With Harriet Harman and Jon Trickett, we are looking at practical ways to make our candidates more representative of the communities they serve. More women candidates. More black and minority ethnic candidates. And yes, more working class candidates.

    This is the Refounding Labour project, turning us into a movement, not merely a parliamentary party.

    It means standing with public sector workers when they organise to defend our libraries, Sure Starts and police stations.

    It means paying a living wage.

    And Conference, let’s start at home. I am proud to announce that on my watch, the Labour Party has become an accredited living wage employer. Everyone who works for the Labour Party is paid a living wage.

    And I urge every Labour councillor to make their council a living wage employer too.

    Look too at the fantastic work Caroline Flint is doing on energy switching. It means the Labour Party will be able to offer people cheaper energy – not after an election, but now.

    It means standing up to the powerful, like Tom Watson has done over News International.

    It means seeking justice like Andy Burnham has on Hillsborough.

    We may be out of office in Westminster but again and again we are able to show we can make change happen.

    This is a different politics.

    Imagine what it will be like when people say: this is what they helped us with when they weren’t in government, imagine what they can do when they are.

    When I’ve visited party members in every nation and region of the UK, spoken to the Fabian Society, Young Labour, Labour Students, Progress, the Co-operative Party and of course our trade unions, they tell me they understand the case for change.

    And they are getting on with it. We are going to change politics.

    Not just because of our values and traditions.

    But because it works.

    When people ask, why should we believe you, vote for you, stand with you?

    We say: judge us by our deeds, not just our words.

    Judge us by the times you see us outside of elections.

    Judge us by the way we look for answers and lead the way.

    Judge us by the difference we make, before we ask for your vote.

    Don’t just ask people if they vote Labour.

    You must be the reason why they vote Labour.

    For me, that’s the biggest difference between us and our opponents.

    Progressives believe tomorrow can be better than today. The Conservative Party believes the best days are behind us.

    Progressives see the good in people. The Conservative Party fears the worst.

    Progressives trust the people. The Conservative Party fears the ‘plebs’.

    We don’t fear the plebs. We don’t show contempt for workers doing their jobs.

    Those who protect, and build, and teach, and care, and struggle for a better day.

    We don’t insult them when they won’t kowtow.

    So the hard work starts now.

    We have the courage to change.

    Shoulder to shoulder with the next Labour Prime Minister, Ed Miliband.

    Let’s rebuild our Party.

    Let’s rebuild Britain.

  • Priti Patel – 2015 Speech on Apprenticeships

    piritpatel

    Below is the text of the speech made by Priti Patel, the Minister of State for Employment, at the 5% Club event, 1 Sail Street, London on 3 December 2015.

    Thank you for inviting me here today.

    Everyone should be talking about the 5% Club. This is a fantastic initiative to ensure companies have the next generation of skilled workers, through high-quality apprenticeships and graduate schemes.

    You have made a commitment to ensure that 5% of your workforce is on an apprenticeship or graduate programme. Business has a vital role in enabling young people to find lasting work through an apprenticeship.

    The government too has made a pledge. To deliver 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. Through these, we can deliver the skills that business and the economy need for growth.

    State of the labour market and youth unemployment

    On the whole, the labour market is in a good position. Employment levels continue to rise.

    We have 31.2 million people in work, a record high of 73.7%. Unemployment as measured by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) fell again this quarter.

    There are nearly 740,000 vacancies at any one time, slightly below the record high but still above levels seen before the recession.

    Young people too have gained from the recovering labour market. The claimant count for unemployed 18- to 24-year-olds has fallen over the year and in October stood at 183,000.

    Government measures to tackle youth unemployment have helped to reduce the number of young jobseekers by a quarter of a million since 2010.

    Yet this still means that there remain young people who have not been given the chance to realise their potential and prove their worth.

    This is where you come in.

    Apprenticeships

    Apprenticeships offer young people a chance to reach their potential. Through an apprenticeship, they can achieve a successful career and secure finances in the years ahead.

    Apprenticeships should not been seen as the poor relation of academia. Higher and degree apprenticeships are widening access to skilled trades and professions. They provide the higher-level technical skills employers need to improve productivity, whilst giving young people an equally valid career route as going to university.

    This year we increased the apprentice National Minimum Wage to £3.30 an hour. Furthermore, from April 2016, employers will not be required to pay employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under age of 25 on earnings up to the upper earnings limit. Eligible employers can currently also receive a £1,500 grant for up to 5 new young apprentices.

    There was just short of half a million starts to an apprenticeship in the 2014/15 academic year. We are taking action to support the growth of apprenticeships to meet our 3 million commitment by 2020.

    Government is ready to work with businesses large and small to introduce and expand apprenticeship programmes. We are also setting new expectations for public sector bodies and through public procurement.

    A levy will be introduced to help fund the increase in quantity and quality of apprenticeship training.

    High-quality apprenticeships are essential if Britain’s economy is to prosper in the years ahead.

    Routes into apprenticeships

    Young people face many challenges. We all remember thinking about what we would like to do when we left school. Many of us may have been lucky enough to be surrounded by friends and family who had wonderful, interesting jobs to inspire us.

    But what about those who are not so fortunate? The young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose friends and family have themselves struggled with unemployment? These are the young people who need a helping hand to realise their potential.

    This is where business has a vital role to play. Employers can open their doors and show them the possibilities. Business can help young people obtain the experience and skills they need to succeed.

    Not everyone will be ready to step straight into an apprenticeship. Schemes such as work experience and traineeships can offer a great stepping stone.

    Work experience is a deceptively simple idea but opens the door to so many possibilities. Young people get a real taste for a possible career, while you get to see them in action.

    Two years ago, some of the UK’s biggest companies announced Movement to Work, an initiative to encourage employers across the country to do more to help unemployed young people.

    Over 200 UK employers are now committed to the Movement. To date, together they have delivered over 25,000 opportunities. Early reports show over half of participants have gone into paid work, including apprenticeships.

    Jobcentre Plus work coaches in schools

    Many young people leave school not understanding the full range of options open to them and unsure how to progress into employment.

    This can lead to missed opportunities and wasted potential. Only 5% of 18-year-olds enter an apprenticeship.

    Jobcentre Plus will soon be helping young people at school get the support they need to progress into employment or training. This will supplement schools careers advice and be targeted at those in danger of becoming NEET – not in employment, education or training.

    Jobcentres will coordinate this support with the new Careers and Enterprise Company. The aim is to offer support and advice on work experience, apprenticeships and traineeships, the labour market and the world of work.

    Jobcentres have a role, but better still is for employers and others to take the message out to schools and colleges about the opportunities available.

    We want young people to progress onto bigger and better things. There is no substitute for quality opportunities that allow people to learn and to grow.

    Conclusion

    Employers have a lot to gain from taking young people under their wing and giving them the chance to prove themselves. And we can support you in that.

    Some people need a little extra help to find a job. This may be training, the support of a mentor, work experience or even something as simple as a new suit for a job interview.

    Jobcentre employer teams are ready to help you find new apprentices and support young people in your area.

    Employers have a vested interest in making sure the next generation of workers has the skills to succeed. You know what works best for your business and the sort of talent you need to thrive.

    Together we can open more doors to the 5% Club and help young people forge the skills for Britain’s future.

    Thank you for your time.

  • Sam Gyimah – 2015 Speech on Children and Young People

    samgyimah

    Below is the text of the speech made by Sam Gyimah, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Childcare and Education, in Regents Park, London, on 3 December 2015.

    Thank you so much for having me here today (3 December 2015), and for putting on such an important event. The fact that this conference is focused solely on children’s mental health, reflects the priority it should be given. And right across government we are committed to getting it right.

    We are at a turning point in how we tackle children’s mental health issues, and events like this one are pivotal in helping us work together to change both how we think about good mental health and what we can do to support it.

    It is a just over a year since I was at the Children and Young People Now awards evening, talking about the importance of mental health support. And I am back to the same again today – because young people’s mental health remains a priority for this government.

    I am delighted that this year’s winner of the Children and Young People’s Charity Award was won by 42nd Street, the youth mental health charity.

    They have rightly been recognised for their outstanding work in delivering a range of therapy and advocacy services for young people in Greater Manchester. These services are reaching some of our most vulnerable young people, increasing their access to early intervention and prevention services.

    A lot has happened in the last year, both across government and within the Department for Education.

    ‘Future in Mind’ was published in March, providing us with a really clear framework for our focus on these issues. Government has committed £1.4 billion over the next 5 years to transform children’s mental health services and each local area is developing a plan to make that transformation a reality.

    But there is more happening nationally as well.

    Earlier this week I was at the launch of 2 incredible anti-stigma campaigns run by Time to Change. They are 2 digital campaigns. One is the largest ever for teenagers and the other, the first campaign to be targeted specifically at parents.

    Both aim to reduce stigma and discrimination and were developed in consultation with the children, young people and their parents. These campaigns will run over the next 3 weeks. And we are really excited about the part they will play in transforming attitudes about mental illness.

    At that event, I heard some boldly honest stories from very impressive young people, about the struggles they have faced. It is this honesty and willingness to share with others that will help us to truly tackle the stigma around mental health.

    In a moment, I’ll talk to you about the work we have been doing within the Department for Education to look at the ways that we can support schools and colleges to understand and address the mental health needs of their pupils.

    But first, a key message I’d like you to take away: the success of these activities depends on putting children and young people at the heart of the policy-making process – nationally and locally. This isn’t new – and it is a theme that I’ll continue to refer to – but it is one that can often get overlooked when with the best will in the world, we’re back at our desks thinking about what we can ‘do’ for children and young people.

    I have seen for myself the importance of listening to, and working with young people themselves. Back in July, Alistair Burt and I were expertly grilled by the Youth Select Committee. We were impressed with their knowledge of the issues, their passion for taking action and their insights into what can be done.

    No young person wants an adult to tell them how they should feel, or how they should deal with a problem. We held a young person’s round table where we tested our policy ideas with a panel of very young people, with lived experience.

    We have distilled this down into 4 areas in which the ‘education system’, can have a particular impact:

    • preventing children and young people from developing poor mental health
    • identifying those who are at risk and who are developing problems
    • providing initial and complementary support within schools, colleges or children’s service settings
    • helping children and young people access specialist services where they need them

    Knowledge about mental health is a key underpinning in all 4 areas – to both promote good mental health and recognise and support when things go wrong. Since last year we have put a lot of new things in place.

    You may have seen an announcement in the press this morning, from the Secretary of State, that to facilitate better access to specialist services, we are working jointly with NHS England to run pilots looking at how schools and CAMHS can work better together. We have invested £1.5 million and are working with 255 schools to test how training and subsequent joint working can improve local knowledge and identification of mental health issues, and improve referrals to specialist services. This is the most recent thing we have done.

    We have also funded the PSHE Association to publish guidance and lesson plans to support age-appropriate teaching about mental health and funded the development of the fantastic MindEd resources to specifically include materials for parents. I would urge you to take a look.

    We have updated advice on mental health and behaviour to help schools look beneath behaviour to better support young people with mental health needs, and to help them develop their early support offer we published a blueprint for schools on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling.

    In addition, we have invested £5 million in Voluntary and Community Sector grants which include a number of projects developing innovate ways to support children and young people in schools and children’s services. 42nd Street was one of those recipients through its work as part of Youth Access.

    And to help us raise awareness and reduce the stigma around young people’s mental health we are working with our first mental health champion, Natasha Devon.

    Natasha has real experience of supporting schools to address mental health issues with their pupils and can make a real difference in encouraging more young people to talk openly about mental health and I am thrilled that she is here today.

    I am sure you will enjoy her session on developing positive approaches to discussing mental health issues.

    But we know there is still a very long way to go and that we are just at the foothills of tackling this incredibly important issue.

    At any one time one in 10 children are suffering from a mental illness – that is 3 in any average sized class. Even more alarmingly, a recent study suggests one in 5 children will suffer some form of mental illness during their childhood. We need to do 2 things urgently – we need to do more to prevent occurrences and escalation of illness, and we need to ensure that the support is in place so that those that have a mental illness are not suffering in silence.

    The recent Youth Select Committee report on mental health highlighted peer support as a key tool in tackling exam stress.

    They also quoted me as saying that I want to use peer support in a large scale way as part of our broader response to young people’s mental health issues. This is something that I am committed to taking forward.

    We know that young people understand better than anyone the pressures their peers face. Pressures that are completely different to those we faced when I was growing up. With their online lives following them wherever they go there are no longer the ‘safe spaces’ that I enjoyed, away from the pressures of school-life, friendships and preparing for adult life.

    But young people have stressed to us that the online world shouldn’t just be seen as a threat. It’s increasingly where young people look for support too. In recognition of this, we funded the development of the award winning Silent Secret app that allows young people to safely share secrets whilst providing direct support from key organisations when a young person seems to need mental health support.

    Silent Secret is just one of the increasing number of apps that provide young people with support from their peers – and this is an area that I am particularly interested in looking at more closely.

    Of course there are times that you can’t replace face to face support. At the young person’s round table we held in the last parliament, a particular story stood out for me. A pair of good friends, Amber and Sophia, told of how when Sophia was dealing with anorexia, Amber provided help and support. In Amber’s eyes, this was no more than being a good friend to Sophia, but I’m sure you’ll all agree it is an example of how valuable it can be when young people step up for each other.

    With this in mind we will be working over the coming months to find out about what works in peer support. I am setting up an advisory group to identify what good peer support looks like and consider how we can embed it in schools.

    We want to hear from children and young people and will be seeking their views through the social media channels that they use to communicate.

    I want to consider whether young people would benefit from training to be able to support others better and to provide them with the opportunities, and recognition for, volunteering to support their peers with appropriate advice and information. And by simply being there to listen.

    Although we know many schools do this already, my vision is that parents will expect all schools to offer some form of peer support programme as part of their whole school approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing.

    We will work with schools and those with expertise – including in the voluntary sector to get them to a place where rather than parents being pleasantly surprised by schools that do offer a range of prevention, identification and early support activities, parents are asking “why not” from those that don’t.

    I am really excited by this work and look forward to hearing from you with your views.

    Thank you very much for your time.

  • Patrick McLoughlin – 2014 Speech on HS2

    Patrick McLoughlin
    Patrick McLoughlin

    Below is the text of the speech made by Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 16th June 2014.

    Good morning.

    I’m delighted to have been invited to the Institute of Directors this morning (18 June 2014).

    You might have noticed that the World Cup has started.

    We are just a short distance from where the foundations of the global game were laid. The FA was formed in 1863.

    At the time British entrepreneurs and engineers crossed the world. Building railways and bringing the beautiful game wherever they went.

    For decades, England and Scotland, were the preeminent footballing nations. But the FA’s focus was on its own committees not keeping up with the competition.

    Instead of investing in training coaches and improving pitches we relied on the legacy that had been left by previous generations.

    So when the time came to compete on the global stage in 1950 we fell at the first hurdle.

    I’m sure you can see what I mean.

    To compete internationally, we can’t rest on our laurels, we need to keep innovating and pushing forward.

    And we need to invest in the infrastructure that’s needed for that to happen.

    Long Term Economic Plan

    Thanks to our long term economic plan the economy is recovering from the years of borrowing beyond our means.

    Our growth rate has been the fastest in the G7 over the last year.

    You have created a record number of jobs.

    And we are on course to cut the huge deficit we inherited by half.

    But as the tide of the financial crisis recedes the sands of the global economy have shifted.

    Brazil, Russia, India and China more than tripled their share of world trade over the first decade of this century. While the European Union’s declined by around 10% over the same period.

    That rapid growth of emerging markets is set to continue. Over the next two decades, the global middle class is expected to expand by another 3 billion.

    I believe that presents a fantastic opportunity. Britain has enormous entrepreneurial spirit and energy. And I think British businesses can compete in those new markets.

    Just yesterday we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese to promote further co-operation on rail projects in both countries.

    This will ensure British firms have a fair opportunity to compete for business in the massive development of High Speed Rail in China.

    To help you succeed, we need a competitive domestic business environment.

    First, we need lower taxes and to cut unnecessary regulation. That’s why we have already cut corporation tax from 28% to 21%.

    And from next year it will be just 20% – the joint lowest in the G20.

    Building better infrastructure

    The second thing we need to do is improve Britain’s essential transport infrastructure.

    Two-thirds of IoD members say that transport is poor value for money.

    That is the result of years of short term thinking.

    Investment was lower than in 1998 in every year until 2011.

    So it is no surprise that our roads and railways are among the most congested in Europe.

    That’s why we are prioritising improving our national infrastructure.

    In total, £24 billion will be invested in the strategic road network in this Parliament and the next. That’s enough to resurface 80% of the strategic road network. And by 2021 we will be spending £3 billion each year on improvements and maintenance.

    This is the most significant upgrade of our roads ever.

    We have also reformed the CAA to deliver better airport facilities and cut costs.

    We are improving land access to our airports – including major investments at Gatwick and Manchester.

    And we have established the independent Airports Commission to look at what capacity is required in the south-east over the short, medium and long term.

    The Office of Rail Regulation confirmed recently that more passengers are using our railways that at any point in history.

    That’s why we will also be investing £38 billion to improve and expand our railways.

    Improvements include an extra 140,000 seats on peak services by the end of the decade, a major electrification programme, Crossrail, Thameslink, the Northern Hub and a multi-billion pound deal to replace intercity rolling stock.

    But even that investment will not be sufficient to meet the projected demand.

    That is why we need High Speed 2.

    HS2

    HS2 will be the first north-south railway for a century.

    It will be the most significant upgrade in the links between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds since the construction of the motorways and it will return over £2 worth of benefit for every £1 invested.

    As I travel around the country, people’s questions about HS2 fall into three broad areas.

    The first is whether it is actually needed.

    The second is whether HS2 will simply suck more economic activity into London and the South East.

    And the third is whether, when budgets are tight, we can afford to build it.

    Let me take each in turn.

    Everyone agrees that Britain’s railways are reaching capacity but people quite rightly ask whether the money we are spending on HS2 would be better spent elsewhere.

    The first thing to remember is, as I have said, we will be spending £38 billion upgrading Britain’s railways over the next 5 years.

    So this isn’t an either or question.

    But even that record investment will not provide the capacity needed.

    The West Coast mainline is one of the busiest stretches of mixed use railway in the world.

    We’ve spent £9 billion upgrading it over recent years. But it still twists and turns too much to be efficient because it was never a dedicated north-south railway. It was the result of stitching together a patchwork of Victorian tracks in the 1920s. And as well as high speed intercity services, it carries stopping commuter services and huge amounts of slow moving freight.

    That’s why even on moderate forecasts it will be full by the mid-2020s.

    Adding further capacity would be difficult, expensive and result in years of disruption. So instead of spending more money upgrading the existing railway and getting diminishing returns, we are better off building a new dedicated north-south link.

    As well as faster, more frequent high speed connections between our major cities, HS2 also frees up the existing railway for new uses.

    We can run far more commuter services to fast growing towns like Milton Keynes or between Birmingham and the Trent Valley.

    It means we can run more services across the Pennines.

    It means that towns that don’t currently have direct links could do so with the capital.

    And it means we can carry much more freight than is possible today.

    The next question I’m asked is whether building HS2 instead of helping rebalance the economy will simply increase the dominance of London and the South-East.

    It was William Cobbett who first described London as the Great Wen in the 1820s. Some still see the capital as a scar on the landscape.

    I don’t.

    We’re lucky London is one of the true global cities. McKinsey estimate that, by 2025, London will be one of the four largest city economies in the world.

    So while some argue we need to restrict London’s growth to rebalance the economy between north and south, I think that would be a grave error.

    When we talk about rebalancing the economy the aim shouldn’t be to make London and the South East worse off.

    It should be to harness the potential of London as a motor for Britain’s economy. At the moment businesses locate in the capital because they want to be closer to their competitors and markets. That supports a thriving economy. But it also means that London and the south east are also increasingly full up. They are caught in a circle of rising house prices, some of the most expensive commercial rents in the world and transport congestion.

    Transport infrastructure is among the most important things overseas business leaders look for when deciding where to invest. Great cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool want to grow. So we can help by improving their connections with the capital and, perhaps more importantly, their connections with one another.

    Finally, there is the question as to whether HS2 is affordable. Taxpayers want to know that we will be spending their money wisely.

    Over two decades, the cost of HS2 works out at around £2 billion a year – around the same amount we are spending on Crossrail.

    Crossrail is already demonstrating that we can build major infrastructure on time and on budget.

    Thanks to Sir David Higgins’ leadership, I am confident the same will be true of HS2.

    David has made clear that the best way to help him do so is to reduce any remaining uncertainty surrounding the project. That is why I am pleased there was a consensus on all sides of the House at Second Reading and we are on track for the Bill to be in Committee shortly.

    So to sum up, I think we have a choice to make.

    Our economy is growing again. But the world we live in is changing.

    We could choose gentle, but steady, relative decline.

    Or we can have the confidence to go for growth.

    Personally, I am an optimist.

    Britain has the incredible ideas, entrepreneurs and engineers and the world class businesses we need to compete.

    We want to back you by providing the infrastructure you need.

    That includes HS2.

    I look forward to working with you to help that to happen.

    Thank you for listening.

  • Patrick McLoughlin – 2014 Speech on Rail Industry Day

    Patrick McLoughlin
    Patrick McLoughlin

    Below is the text of the speech made by Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport, at the Rail Industry Day on 9th April 2014.

    Ladies and gentlemen – welcome to the QEII centre and Rail Industry Day 2014.

    I’d particularly like to extend a warm welcome to colleagues who have joined us from overseas.

    You will be hearing a lot of the detail behind our plans for improving and expanding Britain’s railways over the next few hours.

    So I thought I would start with the big picture.

    We are here today (9 April 2014) because we are ambitious for Britain’s railways and the rail industry.

    Over the past 20 years they’ve been a major success story.

    But we all know our railways can and must improve further.

    They will need carry more people and more freight.

    They will need to become more punctual and reliable.

    And they will need to continue to build on their excellent safety record.

    Doing so requires a long term commitment to investment.

    That’s why we are backing Britain’s railways with £38 billion through control period 5.

    It will fund projects across the whole of the UK to give us the modern, efficient railways that we need to compete.

    We are also going to build High Speed 2.

    The first north-south line for a century.

    Our ambition for Britain to have world-class railways.

    Will generate huge opportunities for your businesses to grow further.

    To compete both here and overseas.

    And to create and sustain thousands of jobs.

    All of which will boost the economy.

    We’re not just investing in the infrastructure.

    We’re also investing to help people get the skills the industry needs.

    For example, Crossrail’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy is already training people like Rudy Nieddu.

    He’d previously been self-employed as an electrical labourer.

    But there were times when the work just wasn’t there and he didn’t get paid.

    He’s now undertaking his apprenticeship with BBMV building Whitechapel station.

    Providing Rudy with a secure income and a skilled job.

    And BBMV with an enthusiastic and highly skilled employee.

    HS2 will see the creation of the first new further education college for 2 decades.

    Supplying the additional skilled professionals required to make HS2 a success.

    Our ambitious rail programme is also attracting new inward investment.

    From companies like Hitachi, which is moving their global rail business to the UK.

    Joining big manufacturers like Alstom, Bombardier and the many others who are already based in Great Britain.

    Hitachi plan to double the size of their business and to sell more here and export abroad.

    It’s a real vote of confidence in engineering and manufacturing in Britain.

    The investment along will create almost 2000 jobs in the north-east.

    But it also means there are even more opportunities for the UK supply chain.

    So our rail programme is not only good for people who use the railway, it’s good for the health of the economy too.

    Finally, I’d just like to say a brief word about the new Rail Executive.

    Because it’s not just about the size of the investment we are making in Britain’s railways.

    It’s also about getting much better value-for-money.

    So we are changing the way we operate. Clare will provide more of the detail.

    But the headline is this change will help strengthen our focus on passengers.

    It will build commercial expertise and innovation.

    It will ensure greater coordination of improvements to track and trains.

    And it will increase the department’s capability and the commercial experience of the management team.

    In conclusion, we are putting record amounts of government funding into our railways over the next 5 years.

    And we are building High Speed Two.

    They are an investment that is central to our long term economic plan.

    Because faster journeys, greater comfort and better punctuality for passengers generates growth, creates jobs and boosts business.

    You have a great day ahead of you.

    I hope you enjoy it.

    And thank you all for coming.