HC Deb 21 June 1971 vol 819 cc984-6
29. Mr. Edelman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what names, other than that of Sir Leslie Rowan, were submitted for his approval as potential chairmen of the British Council; whether the appointment was advertised for public competition; and what were the entertainment and travelling expenses of the previous chairman in his last year of office.

Mr. Godber

It would not be right for me to disclose information relating to the confidential proceedings of the governing body of the British Council. No question of advertising arose. There is nothing unusual in a committee appointing its own chairman, but I am advised that a large number of names were considered before a choice was made. The expenses of the previous chairman in his last year of office amounted to £2,399.

Mr. Edelman

In exercising this important piece of patronage, will the right hon. Gentleman cast his net more widely in future? Is it not a fact that, because of the most senior professional direction of the British Council in the past, contact with popular and trade union movements abroad has been negligible? In those circumstances, will the right hon. Gentleman open these appointments to much wider competition and ensure that they are made not in secret but in public?

Mr. Godber

I cannot accept the hon. Gentleman's strictures. The British Council has done a great deal of good work and deserves support. I should have thought that the appointment of someone like Sir Leslie Rowan would have increased confidence, if that was necessary, in the Council's work.

Sir J. Rodgers

As one who has served on the executive of the British Council and who admires its work greatly, I sympathise with the view of the hon. Member for Coventry, North (Mr. Edelman) that the appointment of the chief executive should be open to wider competition. While I have great admiration for Sir Leslie Rowan—and he might well have obtained the job in open competition—it would be better if in future the appointment were open to the greatest possible number of applicants.

Mr. Godber

I note what my hon. Friend says, and I remind him that I said that a large number of names were considered. I will consider the points which have been made, but I think that the matter is best left as it is.

Mr. Healey

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to give serious consideration to this matter? Many of us know Sir Leslie Rowan and of his work as a Treasury knight and head of Vickers, but we feel that there must have been some other person who was better qualified to promote British civilisation and culture overseas. To deal with the matter in this hole-and-corner way is not entirely satisfactory.

Mr. Godber

I do not accept that the matter was dealt with in a hole-and-corner way. It was also the way in which the appointment had been made under previous Administrations. However, I am willing to look at the matter again and to consult the British Council about it. I should not have thought there was a case for saying that the appointment had been made in a hole-and-corner way. I deplore language of that kind.

Mr. William Hamilton

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that there was a unanimous decision by the all-party Expenditure Committee that these appointments were made on the principle of the "old boy network" and that unless he is more forthcoming he will hear a lot more about this kind of thing?

Mr. Godber

I note what the hon. Gentleman says. I have also noted what the Expenditure Committee said about the British Council, and we are considering it. However, I should not have thought that this was an issue on which the House needed to raise a great deal of alarm. A large number of names were considered; it was nothing like a hole-and-corner procedure.

Mr. Longden

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As a Vice-Chairman of the British Council, I should have appreciated an opportunity to defend it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

It is very difficult to satisfy all those who have splendid claims to speak. I must ask for the hon. Gentleman's indulgence.