Children's Commissioner

Michael Gove responds to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families statement on the appointment of the next Children's Commissioner.

Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) (Con) (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on the appointment of the next Children’s Commissioner.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls): We established the post of Children’s Commissioner to be a fearless and independent advocate for children and young people. Following a rigorous Nolan selection process, the independent selection panel recommended Dr. Maggie Atkinson to me as clearly the most outstanding candidate to succeed Sir Al Aynsley-Green when he steps down in March next year. I accepted the panel’s recommendation and wrote to the Chairman of the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families on 6 October informing the Committee that I had nominated Maggie Atkinson for the post.

That nomination has been widely welcomed.

“Maggie is an excellent choice and will fearlessly and independently promote the interests of children in England”—

not my words, but those of Martin Narey, the chief executive of Barnardo’s. Sir Paul Ennals, the chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau and a member of the independent selection panel, has said:

The Committee held a pre-appointment hearing with Dr. Atkinson last Monday. I received a copy of its report on Friday, which I studied over the weekend, and have set out my response in a detailed letter to the Chairman. The Cabinet Office guidance on pre-appointment hearings states that Ministers will consider any relevant considerations before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment—for example, any new, relevant facts about the candidate’s suitability for the post, such as an undisclosed conflict of interest. The guidance also says:

At the hearing, Dr. Atkinson gave, in my view, robust and intelligent answers to the questions put to her. In its report to me, the Committee says that it was satisfied that Dr. Atkinson demonstrated

However, the Committee raised three specific concerns. The report questions whether Dr. Atkinson will do enough to assert the independence that the role of Children’s Commissioner requires. In her evidence to the Committee, Dr. Atkinson said that she would be unafraid to “speak truth to power,” and Sir Paul Ennals has said that she was

The report also questions whether Dr. Atkinson will challenge the status quo on children’s behalf and stretch the remit of the post, in particular by championing children’s rights. Dr. Atkinson told the Committee last Monday that she would be vociferous in speaking up for the most vulnerable children, such as children in young offenders institutions. Anne Longfield, the chief executive of 4Children, has said that Dr. Atkinson

It is my duty to appoint the best person for the job, and this should not be about politics, partisanship or personality. The judgment that I had to make was whether any new information in the Committee’s report should cause me to alter my nomination and—let us be clear—overturn the independent selection panel’s unanimous recommendation, a decision that would have been hugely unpopular with children’s organisations across the country. My conclusion having studied that report—it is set out in detail in my letter—is that the independent selection panel is right. The person best qualified to be the strong, effective and independent voice for children and young people in our country is Dr. Maggie Atkinson. On this basis, I have confirmed her appointment as the next Children’s Commissioner, and I commend this statement to the House.

Michael Gove: In his very first statement, the Prime Minister pledged that major public appointments would be subject to scrutiny by this House. He argued that the Executive had too much power and Parliament too little. Why is the Secretary of State now rowing back from that principle? Why is he overruling the unanimous view of a Labour Committee with a Labour majority and a Labour Chairman? The Secretary of State clearly wants to push one particular agenda. It is the Committee’s job to provide independent scrutiny. Why exactly is this Secretary of State a better judge than a Committee of this House of who should be an independent scrutineer of the Government?

The Secretary of State has already appointed Dr. Maggie Atkinson to do his bidding in three patronage roles—as chair of a national expert group, as chair of a multi-agency steering and reference board and as chair of a new national work force partnership. In each of those roles, she has consistently supported Government policy in Department for Children, Schools and Families press releases. She has never been in the lead of any critique of Government policy. What evidence is there that she is not just another Labour establishment choice? May I ask the Secretary of State whether Ms Atkinson has ever been a member of any political party? Is it true that every time she has been appointed to a post in local government, the local authority was not Conservative controlled at the time?

The Chairman of the Select Committee has identified a pattern of behaviour from the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State has got rid of those who disagree with him, such as Lord Adonis, Cyril Taylor, Bruce Liddington, Ken Boston and Ralph Tabberer, while appointing individuals who are either pliant or conformist. Does he believe that that bolsters confidence in how he discharges his responsibilities? Does he think that it reinforces confidence in his belief in scrutiny when, instead of choosing to defend his decision in this place, his first instinct was to justify himself in a letter briefed out at 10.30 last night? What reassurances can he now give us that when it comes to public appointments and the running of his Department, there is no longer something of the night about the way in which he operates?