Speeches by McKinnell.

“I did not really understand the explanation of why it is more nuanced for the Treasury than for other Departments.”

“What timescale are you judging that against? This is a long-term transformation. Are you talking short, medium or long-term value for money? How are you judging that?”

“I want to ask you about the detail of the arm’s length bodies and joining service clusters, but in respect of the answer you just gave, to what extent have you looked at international comparisons and how other Governments do this? Internationally, all Governments must be transferring to new digital services. What examp…”

“I think that answer has been given. I am trying to clarify whether that is a shift from the original policy. I understood that the intention was for all arm’s length bodies to be included, so I am just trying to understand whether that is no longer the intention—you have clarified that; thank you—and whether that is a …”

“But clearly a decision is being made that it is value for money for other Departments, but not for the Treasury in that circumstance.”

“I’m sorry, I am really struggling to understand that. The Treasury is clearly funding this programme, so I struggle to understand how it can be expected of other Departments and other arm’s-length bodies, yet there are still value-for-money considerations being applied at this stage. Either it is the strategy or it is …”

“That does not answer the question. Is it still the intention that all arm’s length bodies will join the shared services?”

“Have we had an unusually high number because of the general election, as you mentioned? Or is there generally a lag that you are trying to address?”

“We have had quite a lot of discussion about financial management capabilities within the museum and gallery sector, and an important part of that is having the right board composition. There have been a lot of delays in appointing board members. Why is it taking so long to get the boards up to the level they should be …”

“How many current vacancies are there, across the boards?”

“Okay. I get the sense from what you are saying that the multi-year funding settlements will not actually make a significant difference, because the organisations are not able to rely on those projections to make multi-year plans.”

“To be clear, the challenge is not so much people who want to take up those roles, because you mentioned that they are unpaid. Of the 400 public appointments that DCMS is responsible for, how many of them are in museums and galleries specifically? What I am trying to get at is whether it is a capacity challenge within D…”

“Are you seeing a difference in approach? Are you seeing museums and galleries being able to make decisions that they may not have been able to make previously as a result of any of the changes?”

“What work are you doing with museums and galleries to make sure that they can take full advantage of the flexibility and additional planning they can do under the three-year settlements? Are you supporting them to ensure that they maximise the opportunity?”

“I can see the advantage in making sure that you have quality appointments and that you have diversity in the people who come forward—that is not always the same process that gets the same sorts of people—but obviously that has to be balanced against speed. Do you think you have got that balance right?”

“It is around 800 people waiting for that, did you say?”

“Do you expect, in terms of the timeframe, that they will still be required?”

“In order to meet your contractual expectations that would enable that.”

“Okay. As long as all the information is correct when it comes to you, you will pay out a lump sum. But obviously that is not going to be the case for quite a lot of people. Therefore, you defer that to the Cabinet Office for a hardship loan?”

“That is literally what I just said to you; I said around 800 people who you are waiting to process.”