§ 2. Mr. Crouchasked the Minister of Fuel and Power how he interprets the statutory qualifications required for the appointment of chairman and deputychairmen of the gas boards.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydThese qualifications are clearly defined in Section 5 of the Gas Act, 1948.
§ Mr. CrouchIs the newly-appointed Chairman of the Southern Gas Board a qualified gas engineer?
§ Mr. LloydThe Act lays down that of these officers one should be an engineer and leaves it to the Minister administratively to decide whether the other should not be someone with general administrative experience.
§ Mr. CrouchWould it not be wiser to have a qualified gas engineer at the head of affairs? Surely my right hon. Friend does not suggest following the example of the previous Government of creating "jobs for the boys"?
§ Mr. LloydNo, Sir. I think that qualified gas engineers are most important in the organisation, and the Act lays down the procedure, I think, correctly. General administrative experience is most important, and was of course one of the qualifications in the successful gas companies in pre-nationalisation days.
§ Mr. H. HyndIs the Minister aware that it is not the custom in commercial undertakings to have technicians as members of the board?
§ Mr. BeswickWould the Minister express his disagreement with the implied criticism that the present chairman has not the necessary qualifications?