Speeches by Carling.

“Are they reviewed often enough? We heard an example quite recently—it was the Civil Service Commission—where theirs had been set up in 2010. It was originally supposed to be reviewed every three years, and it has just been changed for the first time this year. Is that a common picture, or do we see these documents more…”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair today, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) for securing this debate. HMOs can work for some people, such as students. With the average house price now more than 7.5 times the average salary, compared with the ’80s when it was three times, HMOs a…”

“How do they respond to that?”

“Was it reviewed by the date?”

“That makes sense. There is a little late, and then there is 10 years. There is a slight difference there.”

“Okay, but they are taking it seriously enough. That is useful.”

“Thank you, that is helpful. On a broader governance point—I direct this to Ms McCaffrey and Mr Smith—how effective are the framework documents in setting out the relationship with sponsor Departments?”

“Those are useful comments. We did a separate inquiry into the ONS where we found a disconnect, particularly with bodies that produce statistics, sometimes between accountability versus independence and how to square that balance. Others might come on to that subject. I have a few small and bitty questions, so if you fe…”

“Mr Smith, in the written evidence of your organisation you suggested that the quality of oversight from sponsor Departments can vary. In what ways did you mean by that?”

“That makes a lot of sense. I was going to ask about churn being a problem; are you able to give a picture of what good oversight looks like from your perspective?”

“That is useful. Thank you. Moving on to my final question—again, the answer may be no—have you seen any examples of Departments looking to interfere in parts of your organisation where they should not? We are trying to get a sense of how interventionist Departments are at the moment.”

“That is useful as well. Just moving back to the board briefly, the Cabinet Office obviously has a really important role to play in the appointment of non-executive directors on the UKSA board. We have been told that the Cabinet Office set aside some of the advice from the UKSA on several reappointments to that board. D…”

“That is helpful. Just to move to a slightly different post, we have an understanding that as a former director general for data capability, somebody called Alison Pritchard commenced quite a lengthy leave of absence in 2024. Has the Cabinet Office been involved in discussion around that post and potentially filling it?”

“That is helpful. It all ties into this situation around the independence of the ONS versus the accountability, and how Cabinet Office appointments skew that balance and potentially almost create extra centres of power, and the various implications that might have. Do you agree with that point about some of these appoin…”

“Okay. And did the Cabinet Office conduct an evaluation of how that post-holder had performed in the role following their departure?”

“It might be useful if there is anything you can find on that letter that we could have in writing, just to help better contextualise some of this. Are you able to shed any light on why the role was not advertised?”

“When was Sir Ian asked about whether he would want that position? Or was he told that he needed to have it?”

“Thank you—that is really helpful. I have some broader questions about the Cabinet Office’s approach to appointments within the UKSA and the ONS. Can we start by talking about Sam Beckett, who was appointed as second permanent secretary at the ONS? Could you give me an indication of why and when Cabinet Office officials…”

“I am going to start with a brief question on the board. We talked a bit about board effectiveness. Has there been a more detailed consideration of the structure of the board? The UKSA board oversees both the Office for National Statistics and the regulator of that body, which seems to me a bizarre governance set-up. Co…”

“May I take this opportunity to put on the record my thanks to the first responders, the police and everyone on the train who put their lives at risk to protect others? So many people from the communities I represent in both Peterborough and Huntingdonshire have written to me today in absolute fear, shock and confusion …”