§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that the Treasury made it a condition of the appointment of the present Comptroller and Auditor-General that he should retire at the age of sixty-five, such condition was made by the Treasury after consultation with the Law Officers of the Crown; or, if not, upon what authority such condition was based.
§ (Answered by Mr. Runciman.) Appointments to the office of Comptroller and Auditor-General are made by the Crown on the recommendation, not of the Treasury but of the Prime Minister. Before his appointment, Mr. Kempe gave an undertaking to the then Prime Minister that he would retire from the office on attaining the age of sixty-five. It is not on record that the Law Officers of the Crown were consulted with reference to the matter, and there does not appear to be any legal power to enforce the undertaking.