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Business plans set the scene for 'see through' government - for the Inverness Courier
ONE of the challenges for any government is how to ensure that people can hold it to account for its actions, outside of a general election every five years.
For people to be able to do so effectively, the provision of full and accurate information is key. This is a test that previous governments, I believe, have failed to meet.
That's why yesterday we published full business plans for every single government department. For the first time, government is setting out not just what its objectives are but how it intends to achieve them, with deadlines for achieving certain tasks and clear information not just about the cost of government activities but also their impact.
Some people say that we are making a rod for our own backs. But it is critical that, if we are to achieve our objectives, there is a clear public accountability - that public pressure will in turn help to ensure that ministers and civil servants deliver on what we have promised.
In order to facilitate this a special website is being set up to bring all of this information into one central location. Each Government Department will publish business plans setting out their policies and timetables for achieving them. Each department will then have to produce a monthly progress report to show whether they are on track or not.
Not only do we want to make government more transparent but we want to open it up to enable small businesses to more easily do business with us.
It will also be easier for people to exercise direct control over many of the public services they use. Our health reforms will empower patients, education reforms will empower teachers and we are giving more power to local authorities. I hope after five years we will be able to say that we are the first government that has actively given away power while in office, not hoarded it at the centre.
HELPING PEOPLE INTO WORK
This week we are outlining our proposals to help free people from the benefit trap that many are caught in. Welfare reform is of course complicated and difficult, but it is based on the belief that with the right support we can help people find work that is suitable for them and lift them out of benefits.
I recently visited the Inverness JobCentre. It is clear that their advisers want to see people return to work and that they will look to provide as much support as possible to enable that to happen.
By simplifying the current range of benefits into one Universal Credit we will make it easier for people to get help when they need it and ensure that as they enter employment the financial support is not simply removed but that it continues, reducing as their income increases. It should always pay more to be in work and people should always be able to access help when they need it.
RAF KINLOSS AND LOSSIEMOUTH
I fully understand the strength of feeling demonstrated at Sunday's march and welcome the strong case being put forward for the two bases. The march was a powerful demonstration of public feeling, and the message has been received loud and clear in government.
No decisions have yet been made on closures. The MoD is still reviewing its bases to see where closures need to take place and whether locations can be put to other uses, including the possibility of accommodating British troops who are returning from Germany.
As the local MP for some of those affected I will provide as much help as I can and I am sure that the case being put forward for the two based will rightly be given the consideration it merits.
Posted on: 09/11/2010
