Public Bodies: Reform

Lord Boateng Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My noble friend need have no concerns on this matter, because Defra is well aware of the difficulties of these two bodies. They have suffered from mission creep, and within their budgets there will be a redefining of their role, which is very important. There will be plenty of opportunity because the Secretary of State will, indeed, be making announcements on these bodies in due course.

[Lord Boateng]

My Lords, the Caribbean Board is to be abolished, which will be of considerable—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I am sorry to have to disagree with the noble Baroness. Some of these decisions have had to be made by government, and we take full responsibility for making them. Consultations were done with each department, and each department was responsible for ascertaining from all these bodies their capacity to meet the tests that have been set. Discussions have thus been taking place within departments and I am quite surprised to hear from the noble Baroness that she has not been aware of the discussions going on in this field, because I know that she is very much involved in these things. Concerning the women’s commission, we are really keen to move away from the idea of having a single body to voice women’s issues. Women should actually be engaged in all public bodies and articulating their views across Government.

[Lord Boateng]

My Lords, the Caribbean Board—

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

At a similar point in a prior Administration, I was ministerially responsible for a department with 43 non-departmental public bodies. I received a Cabinet Office instruction almost to double the proportion of women on those boards within a matter of months. That order could have been carried out to the letter either by greatly raising the number of women board members or by conducting a massacre of male innocents on their own quarter-decks. At some risk to my own quarter-deck, I minuted back about which course I was to follow. Can my noble friend give an assurance that a competent mathematician will proof-read any similar instructions before they are sent out this time?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I cannot guarantee the standards of proof-reading or mathematical skills, but I am sure that we have a highly skilled Civil Service and that no instruction will go out which is neither numerate nor literate.

[Lord Boateng]

My Lords, the Caribbean Board is to be—

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, perhaps the Cross Benches can come in and then the noble Lord.

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

The noble Baroness makes valuable points and I take them on board. There is an ongoing review and dialogue concerning the Judicial Appointments Commission, because it is very important that this body achieves the high objectives which the noble Baroness has laid down for it. The Lord Chancellor is in regular contact with the Lord Chief Justice. The review’s aims will be to ensure a balance between the executive, the judiciary and independent responsibilities and, indeed, to ensure transparency and openness. I hope that reassures the noble Baroness.

[Lord Boateng]

My Lords, the Caribbean Board is to be abolished. That will be of real concern to the peoples of the Caribbeans and to all their friends, on all sides of the House and in the country. How is the profile of small island dependencies to be represented across Government, involving DfID, the FCO and the other government departments together with the wider diaspora community? These island dependencies, which have been neglected in the past, see themselves as neglected and will now see themselves relegated to the same league as the Government’s advisory board on wines—although even that function is not to be abolished.