HC Deb 29 January 1998 vol 305 c542

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Mr. Dalyell

When the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body starts the process of selecting a Clerk and Deputy Clerk, will they be head-hunted from those who have expertise in the House of Commons? [Interruption.] They will not necessarily, because there are experts in Edinburgh who have been working in devolution and who were Clerks in the House. Are they to be paid on the same basis as Clerks in the House?

Mr. McLeish

I think at this stage those details have not been worked out, but I reassure my hon. Friend that we are looking for both expertise and excellence. It will be up to the Parliament to seek the best person for the job, and my hon. Friend's comments show that he too wants that.

Mr. Dalyell

But timing is important, because presumably the Clerk and Deputy Clerk must be in place before the Parliament sits, in 1999.

Mr. McLeish

I think that the Government understand that. We are proceeding now to get the Bill on to the statute book. We have set up several committees to look at the nuts and bolts of the way in which the Parliament will work. Obviously, that level of detail—that type of very important issue—will be tackled at a very early day. If we are holding the elections on 6 May 1999, a tremendous amount of work must be done before then, and I think I can reassure my hon. Friend that attention will be paid to the matters that he has raised.

Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield)

I appreciate what the Minister says, but it goes further than that, does it not? Who will make the appointment? For instance, in Northern Ireland, as I noted when we visited Stormont, there is a Clerk of a potential Northern Ireland assembly, who has been in residence for many years. Will the appointment be made by the House, by Ministers? Will it be done by the Secretary of State for Scotland or left to the Scottish Parliament? In any case, it will have to be done well before the Parliament starts sitting.

Mr. McLeish

The obvious points have been made by my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) and the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve), and of course they are appreciated. The Parliament is a serious business, and indeed the Parliament will establish the post of Clerk. We are anxious to pass the legislation. In parallel with that, we are setting up several consultative groups and committees to ensure that we discuss those details. There is no ambiguity, and no one sitting anywhere has a locus on that job at present. We accept that expertise is important; we want the best in the Scottish Parliament. That will be the objective.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 19 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

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