§ Q8. Mr. J. Rodgersasked the Prime Minister if he will consider setting up a small committee, headed by a former senior civil servant who has subsequently had business experience, to investigate how the machinery of Government could be brought fully up to date.
§ The Prime MinisterThere have been several committees recently which are in line with what I think my hon. Friend has in mind.
§ Mr. RodgersWould not my right hon. Friend agree that while the Civil Service enjoys a unique reputation for industry, integrity, intelligence and fairness, nevertheless it is slow in considering matters, and very slow in reaching 1485 decisions, and that, in this speeded-up age, it might help the Government to conduct affairs better if we did not have to rely quite so much on our present machinery of Government?
§ The Prime MinisterI quite appreciate my hon. Friend's purpose, and I know that he has considerable knowledge of this problem. On the whole, I think that we have done best to treat it in separate compartments, so to speak. There was the Plowden Committee on Public Expenditure, most of whose Report was very valuable and is now being implemented, and there have been other Committees dealing with the Foreign Service and the Commonwealth Relations Office. I think that it may be better to proceed on those lines rather than try to have a generalised inquiry into the whole Civil Service, which covers such an enormous field.
§ Dr. KingIs the Prime Minister aware that some of us do not share his hon. Friend's view about inefficiency in the Civil Service, and think that there might be a case for a group of civil servants to investigate how the machinery of business could be brought fully up to date?
§ The Prime MinisterI thought that my hon. Friend paid tribute to the efficiency of the Civil Service, and I think that we all do that. I am sure that the purpose of any of these inquiries—the Plowden Committee and the others I have referred to—has been welcomed by the Civil Service, and has been very helpful in improving its work.