16 May 2008
A Commons committee has broken with traditional protocol to restate its demand that Parliament be allowed to debate and vote on major Whitehall reorganisations.
The public administration select committee has repeatedly questioned whether the prime minister should continue to have 'near-absolute power' to reorganise Whitehall departments.
The renewed call came in a short report published alongside the government's response to an earlier document. Its publication on May 14 signalled the MPs' determination to pursue the issue – parliamentary committees usually publish government responses to their reports without comment.
PASC chair Tony Wright told Public Finance: 'The major issue is that if the government wants to reorganise parts of the public sector there is very extensive public consultation, but if the government wants to reorganise itself [it happens with] one sweep of the prime ministerial pen.'
He added: 'The business of making big organisational changes comes with costs that have to be carefully considered.'
In its response, the government argues that 'the organisation and functions of a government department are fundamentally a reflection of the responsibilities of the minister in charge of the department', which in turn are determined by the prime minister.
'The government believes it is important to reserve the right of a prime minister to organise the responsibilities of members of the Cabinet, from which high-level departmental structures are derived,' it says.
But the PASC hit back, arguing that 'the current model is not the only possible model' for creating departments. The Ministry of Defence had been set up by an Act of Parliament in 1946, the MPs point out in Machinery of government changes: further report.
It quotes Gordon Brown's own words on constitutional reform, saying: 'Such a change would be an important practical demonstration of the prime minister's commitment to “entrust… more power to Parliament” and to “surrender or limit” his own powers.'
Major changes to government structures should be governed by secondary legislation, with debate and a vote in Parliament, the MPs believe.
Wright told PF: 'I don't regard the door as closed.' Cabinet Office minister Ed Miliband had been 'far more responsive to our arguments' than the government response suggested, he said.
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