Government’s legislative agenda suffering delays

Business, environment and ‘big society’ projects running months behind schedule only six months after they were published The government’s legislative agenda appears to have slipped in the last six months as it publishes business plans showing 87 revised deadlines and targets missed. The second publication of the government’s progress reports – an innovation devised by David Cameron to make government more efficient and transport – shows its business, environment and “big society” projects to be running months behind schedule only six months after their timetables were originally published. The documents also link for the first time the long awaited public services white paper – which it admits will eventually be six months late – has been held up by the “pause” and “listening exercise” taking place in the NHS reforms. First launched last November, the new regimes were heralded as a power shift from the centre to the people who would have a new ability to scrutinise the progress of government work. The No 10 website suggested the second round of plans had been reframed to reflect the government’s growing focus on social mobility and economic growth. “They also now include actions on growth and social mobility, and some minor presentation changes, including incorporating milestones into the main section of the business plans,” it says. The cabinet office was the department whose agenda had slipped the most with 17 rearranged targets. Next the business department with 11; education with 10, transport with 9 and Defra with 8. Delays include: • Plans for a new Public Data Corporation, to bring together all data services across government, are delayed from last month to the end of the year • Legislation to allow loans to be paid to people in further education have slipped from September 2011 to May 2012 • A white paper to reduce regulatory burdens on industry is delayed from May this year to October • The full establishment of the “big society” bank, using dormant bank account funds to invest in social enterprises, is delayed a year. An interim fund will be put in place. While the government reflected the well known pause in the NHS as it conducts a “listening exercise”, for the first time it made explicit there was a link between the newly imposed “pause” in the NHS reforms and the long awaited and much delayed wider public service reform white paper. It had been expected in January but now the business plan reveal it will be published in July. For the first time the documents acknowledge that it is on hold while the NHS reforms are on hold, suggesting that the two are inextricably linked. There has been some speculation that the link is Lib Dem opposition to privatisation. Not all date changes are delayed. A move towards individual voter registration, to tighten up the security of the electoral system, is being fast-tracked. Public services policy Health NHS Public sector cuts Health policy Education policy Allegra Stratton Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 13, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.