§ 37. Mr. MONTAGUEasked the Minister of Transport whether members of the Electricity Board, apart from the chairman, can hold other lucrative posts or retain separate commercial interests?
§ Colonel ASHLEYThe answer is in the affirmative. None of the members of the Central Electricity Board other than the chairman is required by their appointments to devote the whole of their time to the performance of their duties as Members of the Board. Under Section 1 (4), however, of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1926, a member of the Board if interested in any company with which the Board has or proposes to make any contract must disclose to the Board the fact and nature of his interest, and may take no part in any deliberation or decision of the Board relating to such contract.
§ Mr. MONTAGUEMay I ask whether it is the opinion of the Minister that a salary of £750 a year is a proper sum for a part-time job.
§ Colonel ASHLEYI do not think that arises out of the question but in any case, as I settled the £750, I think it is a proper amount.
§ Mr. KIRKWOODDoes the right hon. Gentleman think that £7,500 a year to be paid to Sir Andrew Duncan is a proper salary when only £2 a week is being paid to a miner, and does that not prove conclusively that there is a class struggle going on in society?
§ Mr. HARDIEMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, after the discussion which took place in Committee upstairs on the Bill, he is satisfied that anyone taking part as a member of this Board can have any spare time for anything else but the work of the Board?
§ Colonel ASHLEYYes, Sir; I am quite sure on that point, and membership of the Board is to be a part-time job.
§ Mr. HARDIEShould not the salary bear some relation to the amount of work, and does the right hon. Gentleman not think that £750 a year is a good wage for a full-time man engaged in that kind of work?