§ 12. Mr. HansonTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many individuals have been appointed to quangos in Wales from the Welsh Office register of candidates for public appointments since July 1993.
§ Mr. RichardsBetween 1 July 1993 and 1 March 1995, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made 260 appointments, excluding reappointments, to non-departmental public bodies and national health 553 service bodies. Candidates are largely drawn from the departmental register in addition to other sources, including advertisements.
§ Mr. HansonIs the Minister aware that, following advertisements placed by the Welsh Office, thousands of people applied to serve on quangos but only a small proportion were appointed? At the same time, people such as Michael Griffiths, one of the Minister's close constituents, sits on six quangos and has the temerity to call his horse Quango King. Mr. Griffiths sits on many non-executive and executive bodies on behalf of Welsh people but is not in any way accountable to them. Should not the Minister open up quango selection systems to favour members of the public and to greater public scrutiny, and consider in due course proposals for a Welsh Assembly, to return accountability to the people of Wales?
§ Mr. RichardsAppointments to non-departmental public bodies are open to all. I invite the hon. Gentleman to write to me if he knows of anyone talented enough to be a chairman or non-executive member of a non-departmental public body—such as the person whom the hon. Gentleman mentioned. I reiterate that, when my right hon. Friend and I consider applicants for non-departmental public bodies, our only concern is to appoint the best people for the job. We do not even know what are their politics.