§ Q8. Mr. Ridleyasked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to set up a non-political permanent commission to make appointments to public boards and nationalised industry boards.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. Parliament has decided that these appointments should be the responsibility of the Government.
§ Mr. RidleyIf it is right to end the system of political honours, surely it is even more important to end the system of political appointments, particularly to State boards like the boards of nationalised industries? Should we not aim at trying to get the right boys for the jobs, rather than the right jobs for the boys?
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no parallelism between the ending of political honours and the question covered in thes—[Interruption.]—political honours which hon. Gentlemen opposite fully carried out for work for political services and not for services to the country. The choice of a chairman or member of a nationalised industry under successive Governments has been based on the suitability of the person for the job, and the Conservative Government appointed, among those, some who were political, both Conservative and Labour, and so have we.
§ Mr. C. PannellIs the Prime Minister aware that it will take an awful lot of appointing on our part to catch up with the backlog of appointments on the other side?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not trying to do that. It is the duty of the responsible Minister, who first consults me, to appoint whoever is best for the job, irrespective of party affiliations or whether they have any political affiliations at all.
§ Mr. ThorpeWould it not be a good idea to set up a non-political commission to decide who should be dismissed?
§ The Prime MinisterThe responsibility for changes in the boards—for firing as well as hiring—is a responsibility given by Parliament to the Ministers concerned. I do not think that they require to go to any Civil Service type non-political commission.
§ Mr. OrmeWould my right hon. Friend agree that, if such a board was set up to examine the political affiliations of members of boards, Mr. Aubrey Jones should be the first person submitted to it to find out about his suitability to carry on in his present position?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not sure whether my hon. Friend, in the question, was talking about political affiliations or suitability. In that case, as in all other cases, irrespective of political affiliations, we made the appointment of the person whom we felt right and best fitted to do the job.