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| Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill to be questioned by MPs about work of government and Priti Patel - live news | Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill to be questioned by MPs about work of government and Priti Patel - live news |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen | Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen |
| Q: What can a permanent secretary do if they are unhappy with their minister? | |
| Sedwill says their job is to make this work. | |
| Sedwill says the job of officials is to give candid, honest, impartial advice, right up to the point where a decision is taken. | |
| He says secretaries of state have a role in appointing permanent secretaries. | |
| But they have tenure. If they did not, they would be under pressure just to tell ministers what they wanted to hear. | |
| He says 99% of the time people manage these relationships. | |
| Q: What course of action would be available to a minister dissastisfied with her permanent secretary? | |
| Sedwill says you would expect her to raise that with the official. If they could not raise it directly, he would expect them to raise it with him. | |
| Q: A civil servant was quoted in the Sunday Telegraph saying that the convention is that, if the relationship between a senior civil servant and new minister breaks down, the official should move. Is that right? | |
| Sedwill says sometimes officials do move. | |
| But he says the expectation is for officials and ministers to conduct themselves courteously. | |
| But if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. He would then take action. | |
| The Tory MP David Jones is asking the questions next. | |
| Q: There has been a lot of talk about one minister bullying staff. Do we need a definition of bullying for the ministerial code? | |
| Sedwill says he himself may have been seen as “blunt and forthright”. | |
| He says behaviour that might be acceptable towards an equal would be unreasonable if shown towards someone more junior. | |
| He says you can have bullying at junior levels too, between people on the same grade. | |
| He says fortunately people are now more confident about reporting complaints about bullying. | |
| Sir Mark Sedwill is speaking now. | |
| He says the job of the cabinet secretary is try to try to resolve disputes between ministers and civil servants. | |
| Q: Is there a formal process for restoring harmony? | |
| Sedwill says there is no formal process. But he tries to ensure the top team is working together. | |
| If there were a complaint about a minister, just as if there were a complaint about anyone, that would be investigated. That might lead to behavioural advice - telling people what they should do. | |
| Q: Would you recommend a secretary of state going for coaching? | |
| Sedwill says he has not recommended that. But there are proposals for ministers to get training in how to deal with major projects. | |
| Q: What about coaching for dealing with staff? | |
| Sedwill says he has not recommended that, but that might be an option. | |
| Sedwill does not rule out recommending coaching for ministers who need advice on how to deal with staff. | |
| William Wragg, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, asks the first question. He asks Sir John Manzoni why he is still in post. He was due to leave last year, Wragg says. | |
| Manzoni says it was decided that it was not a good time to leave. His term of office was extended to 31 March, he says. | |
| The public administration and constitutional affairs committee hearing is just starting. | |
| There is a live feed here. | |
| The witnesses are Sir Mark Sedwill, who combines being cabinet secretary and head of the civil service with being national security adviser (a controversial arrangement, which may well come up) and Sir John Manzoni, the chief executive of the civil service. | |
| Last week BuzzFeed published a lengthy article about Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, by Alex Wickham and Alberto Nardelli exploring how someone who was widely expected to be forced out last summer when Boris Johnson became PM has now made himself indispensable to Johnson and his most powerful adviser, Dominic Cummings. It is worth reading in full, and it may well come up in the select committee hearing. Here’s an extract. | |
| Excluding Huawei from Britain’s 5G network will “significantly set back” the government’s ambitions to extend broadband access, a former chairman of BT has warned. As the Press Association reports, Sir Mike Rake, who now acts as an adviser to the Chinese tech giant, hit out at what he said were “ill-informed assertions” about the dangers of allowing the company access to the UK’s critical national infrastructure. In an open letter Rake said: | |
| Rake was speaking ahead of a debate this afternoon which will see Tory rebels try to defeat the government on an amendment saying that Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G network should not last beyond the end of 2022. But it is not clear yet whether or not the amendment will be “called” by the Speaker - ie, put to a vote. | |
| Good morning. House of Commons select committees finally started sitting last week, and this morning much of Westminster will be focused on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee (PACAC), where Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, is giving evidence. | Good morning. House of Commons select committees finally started sitting last week, and this morning much of Westminster will be focused on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee (PACAC), where Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, is giving evidence. |
| Sedwill is the most powerful civil servant in Whitehall and even in quiet times his job is fascinating. More recently, for a host of reasons, he has found himself at the centre of the news agenda. This is what the committee is saying about the hearing. | Sedwill is the most powerful civil servant in Whitehall and even in quiet times his job is fascinating. More recently, for a host of reasons, he has found himself at the centre of the news agenda. This is what the committee is saying about the hearing. |
| In theory the hearing should be gripping. But in practice - well, maybe not. Cabinet secretaries are a bit like the Queen; they may know everything, but they have also perfected the art of speaking at length in public without giving anything much away. We will find out soon whether PACAC has enough guile to tempt Sedwill into making news. | In theory the hearing should be gripping. But in practice - well, maybe not. Cabinet secretaries are a bit like the Queen; they may know everything, but they have also perfected the art of speaking at length in public without giving anything much away. We will find out soon whether PACAC has enough guile to tempt Sedwill into making news. |
| Here is the agenda for the day. | Here is the agenda for the day. |
| 9.45am: Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee. | 9.45am: Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee. |
| 11.30am: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons. | 11.30am: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons. |
| After 12.30pm: MPs begin debating the remaining stages of the telecommunications infrastructure (leasehold property) bill. As my colleague Kate Proctor reports, Tory rebels wants to force a vote on an amendment that would force the government to remove Huawei from the UK’s 5G network by the end of 2022. | After 12.30pm: MPs begin debating the remaining stages of the telecommunications infrastructure (leasehold property) bill. As my colleague Kate Proctor reports, Tory rebels wants to force a vote on an amendment that would force the government to remove Huawei from the UK’s 5G network by the end of 2022. |
| 3.15pm: John Bercow, the former Commons Speaker, speaks at a conference on Parliament and Brexit. | 3.15pm: John Bercow, the former Commons Speaker, speaks at a conference on Parliament and Brexit. |
| As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up. | As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up. |
| I will be covering some Westminster coronavirus developments, but our main coronavirus coverage is here, on our special live blog. | I will be covering some Westminster coronavirus developments, but our main coronavirus coverage is here, on our special live blog. |
| You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. | You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. |
| I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. | I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. |
| If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. |