Whitehall focus Milburn to disclose his departments costs after intervention from the NAO

24 Mar 05
The government's election supremo, Alan Milburn, will reveal the full cost to taxpayers of his Cabinet role following an approach from the National Audit Office.

25 March 2005

The government's election supremo, Alan Milburn, will reveal the full cost to taxpayers of his Cabinet role following an approach from the National Audit Office.

Auditor general Sir John Bourn has asked the Cabinet Office for a breakdown of costs at Milburn's Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster unit in Whitehall.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman confirmed this week that: 'We have committed to full publication in the department's annual report and resource accounts for 2005, as agreed with the NAO.'

The direct costs of a minister's office are not usually identified in departmental resource accounts, but Bourn's request follows parliamentary concerns about Milburn's dual role.

The former health secretary was drafted back into the Cabinet in 2004 to co-ordinate both government policy and its election campaign. He oversees the work of the Strategy Unit and Cabinet Office Policy Directorate, employing two special advisers and civil servants.

But opposition MPs have accused him of engaging in Labour Party electioneering at the expense of government activities. The ministerial code of conduct restricts the use of taxpayers' money for party political purposes, but there is no evidence that Milburn has breached the code.

As the political row escalated last year, Conservative MP Julian Lewis wrote to Bourn asking him to assess the cost of appointing Milburn separately to two posts.

Public Finance has discovered that NAO officials held a meeting with Cabinet Office managing director Colin Balmer on March 9. A letter from Bourn to Lewis states that Balmer could not disclose costs at the meeting because interim figures would be 'unrobust'.

However, in a letter dated March 7, Bourn received assurances from Cabinet Office minister David Miliband that 'due to parliamentary interest' in the matter, the department had 'agreed to identify specifically the actual costs of the office of the present Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster… following the end of the financial year.'

Milburn receives an annual Cabinet salary of £130,347, but Lewis estimates that the cost of running his office could top £400,000.

Lewis welcomed the move towards greater transparency, but claimed that it was more important in the run-up to the general election because it was unlikely Milburn would hold the same post after polling day.

'Our concern was that taxpayers could see where their cash was being spent by Alan Milburn's office during the election campaign, which he is co-ordinating from Whitehall,' Lewis said.

'Choice' can undermine efficiency, say MPs

MPs scrutinising civil service work have raised concerns about the coherence of two flagship government policies: choice and efficiency.

A study by the public administration select committee states that 'there is the potential for conflict' between the 'two central goals of government policy' and warns that extending choice through additional capacity across the public services could undermine plans to wipe billions of pounds off the cost of running Whitehall.

The PASC's report, published on March 17, draws heavily on evidence provided to MPs by Sir Peter Gershon, author of the government's efficiency review.

Gershon was sceptical about providing choice in some areas of government. He told the PASC that the Inland Revenue, for example, had extended choice by allowing taxpayers to pay bills in several ways. But he warned that this conflicted with plans to save millions of pounds by reducing the time civil servants spend processing traditional payments, such as cheques.

'Our session with Sir Peter Gershon revealed the possible tensions between two important principles: choice, with its need to rely on spare capacity; and efficiency, with its attack on waste,' the PASC states.

The creation of autonomous public bodies, such as foundation hospitals, could also undermine plans to aggregate procurement, MPs believe.

'The diversity of provider which is encouraged by the government's policies on choice may also damage efficiency by limiting the ability to introduce economies of scale,' they warn.

Departments need better data to meet PSA targets, auditors warn

Whitehall departments must improve the data used to underpin government targets, auditors have warned.

The National Audit Office has reported on the progress made by seven departments — including the Treasury, the Department for Education and Skills and the Cabinet Office — in establishing robust data systems to measure performance against Public Service Agreement targets.

The study, published on March 23, concludes that they have made 'variable progress' in establishing good practices for managing data.

Some departments have 'overcome substantial measurement challenges' to address reliability risks.

But others have not 'developed operating systems that managed all the significant risks to data reliability or explained the existence of those weaknesses to readers of their public performance reports', the study states.

Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, warned: 'Departments need to devote more attention to data systems if they are to get full value from their performance management systems.'

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