§ 25. Mr. Palmerasked the Minister of Power what duties are to be allocated to Mr. Michael Posner; and if he is to be appointed a member of the Minister's Energy Advisory Committee.
§ Mr. MarshMr. Michael Posner is expected to take up full-time duties as Director of Economics on 1st October, subject to securing release from his university; meanwhile he is giving the Ministry assistance and advice on an ad hoc basis. He will be responsible for inquiring into, and advising on, economic questions of concern to the Ministry, including those of fuel policy and co-ordination which come before my Energy Advisory Council.
§ Mr. PalmerDoes my right hon. Friend think that this kind of temporary advice, with all respect to Mr. Posner, is good enough? Does not the importance of the decisions now being made about fuel and power make it necessary that my right hon. Friend should have available the very best all-round expert advice?
§ Mr. MarshI think that my hon. Friend misunderstands the position. Mr. Posner is coming to work for the Ministry full time to head a division which will be composed of a number of people who will also be working full time on just this subject. The Ministry is concerned with two considerations—one is the short-term fuel policy to take account of some of our immediate problems, and the other is the much longer exercise to produce some form of econometric model of the fuel economy.