Francis Maude

“The state has got into a mess. It's big, it's clunky, it's bureaucratic and it's wasteful.”

“For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone.”

“We have to change the culture of government. We have to make it more open, more transparent, and more accountable.”

“Open data is not just about transparency. It's about creating economic value and driving innovation.”

“If you want to have a smaller state, you need to have a stronger society.”

“My passion is making government work better. It’s what I’ve been trying to do for most of my political life.”

“The public sector can learn a lot from the private sector in terms of efficiency and innovation.”

“Too often, the default in Whitehall is to classify, to conceal, to control. We want the default to be to publish, to share, to release.”

“We want to make it easier for people to set up their own businesses, for people to create jobs, for people to get a foot on the property ladder, and for people to save for their retirement.”

“There is a huge opportunity to use technology to transform public services, making them better and cheaper.”