Cabinet Office

The debate in the House of Commons focused on a range of issues facing the government, with a particular emphasis on tackling fraud and error, improving digital technologies, and ensuring high standards of propriety in public life. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, opened the session by acknowledging the significant challenge of fraud and error, with estimates ranging from £40 billion to £60 billion in losses to the public purse. He highlighted the government's plans to establish a COVID corruption commissioner to track down and recover as much of this money as possible. The opposition welcomed this move, but pressed the government to go further, using new technologies like AI to detect and prevent fraud, and to tackle cronyism and nepotism that had plagued the previous administration. The debate then turned to the government's plans to increase the use of digital technologies across Whitehall, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster outlining the creation of a strong digital centre of government to drive innovation and improve public services. Opposition members welcomed this, but stressed the need to use digital tools to boost productivity and reform public services to match the private sector. Restoring trust in politics and upholding the highest standards of propriety were also key themes, with the Paymaster General, Nick Thomas-Symonds, outlining plans to establish an independent ethics and integrity commission. The opposition emphasised the importance of this, given the "sleaze" of the previous government, and called for the new commission to explore participative and deliberative democracy methods to help rebuild public confidence. Throughout the debate, ministers stressed the government's commitment to a mission-led, joined-up approach to policymaking, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster highlighting the new Cabinet committee on national resilience. This was welcomed by the opposition, who urged the government to work closely with devolved administrations and local leaders to deliver on its agenda. Overall, the debate highlighted the scale of the challenges facing the new government, but also a shared determination to restore trust, improve public services, and ensure value for money for the taxpayer.