Speeches by Lamb.

“It still affects public confidence in the system. Is there a reason you can think of why we would not want former Ministers to be able to be investigated where there had been some evidence of wrongdoing?”

“Turning to the issue of local government, the Government have indicated that they plan to legislate and introduce a new standards system for local authorities, including a mandatory code. Having been at council quite a long time, this is desperately needed. There was a noticeable decline after the removal of the Standa…”

“The point here—and there is obviously a very specific case that comes to mind at the moment around this—is we still teach students this as being a fundamental part of the ministerial role. And I cannot think of a single occasion in the last decade and a half, at least, where any Minister has resigned from their role on…”

“One of the concerns we have heard is that people have not understood the local government standards system, which is understandable. What consideration has been given for reducing the complexity and matching it up with the standards regime in Government and Parliament?”

“That would mean that the only context that the severance payment might be required to be repaid would be for a breach around those rules?”

“The Government have changed the guidance, so if a Minister has breached the code or is subsequently found to have breached the code, they are expected to pay back their three-month severance payment. If the Independent Adviser does not investigate former Ministers, who makes that judgment?”

“It was recently reported that the Independent Adviser can only investigate a current Minister. It cannot investigate a Minister who is suspended or resigned. Where is that rule set out?”

“What do you understand by the term “individual ministerial responsibility”?”

“So the convention that Ministers are not only responsible for their own actions but those undertaken by those underneath them in the structure no longer remains a part of the UK constitution?”

“Yes.”

“It is maybe a public awareness campaign as well.”

“In terms of that time limit, you said that where someone is making consistent efforts to make a difference, very often you will encourage people to try to make sure they use the full process available before coming to the PHSO in order to reduce the burden on you. However, if 12 months really is the timeline, maybe we …”

“Just on that last point—while accepting that there is likely to be a sampling issue as people will be more inclined to respond if they are upset—in the survey the overwhelming majority of respondents waited very long periods of time for their cases to be concluded. I am wondering if the perception difference might have…”

“I am really just inquiring as to whether there might be a methodological explanation for the difference in terms of timings, but I fully accept the point around meticulousness. Turning to my actual question, during the course of our inquiry, issues with interpretation and communication of the 12-month time limit for ac…”

“Exploring that further, in terms of the guidance itself, do you set out the reasons why the 12-month time limit makes sense—as you have just done here—and make the circumstances in which discretion may be exercised very clear?”

“You do; great.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. This issue has been on my radar for a very long time. I used to be the leader of the local authority in Crawley, and we have been aware for many years that the capacity limitations that are coming on the line will be so severe that they will gum up the entire n…”

“The Government are to be commended for the largest ever investment in police technology, including facial recognition to catch serious offenders, and a drone squad to crack down on waste crime. However, the rules around admissibility of some high-tech evidence, such as the six-month crime rule, are holding back enforce…”

“Under the current system, regardless of how much pressure is brought to bear on the Government, if the Government are determined not to have an inquiry, nothing can be done to force them to have one, outside perhaps a judicial review into that decision. Do you think that there is any answer to that problem?”

“9. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing greater use of evidence from automated enforcement technology in trials.”