HC Deb 21 July 1999 vol 335 cc1176-7
5. Mr. Amess

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent representations he has received on the criteria for public appointments. [90874]

The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Peter Kilfoyle)

I receive occasional representations from hon. Members about public appointments issues.

Mr. Amess

Is the Minister aware that the fourth report from the Commissioner for Public Appointments states that an increasing number of health authority appointments are of Labour supporters? What is the Minister's view of the report's remarks about the possibility of political bias in appointments by the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly? Why are so many Labour party supporters or financial backers recipients of public appointments?

Mr. Kilfoyle

I am sure that the Scots and the Welsh can speak for themselves, but the Commissioner for Public Appointments in fact lauded the progress that the Government have made. She has responded to complaints about certain national health service appointments by setting up a small scrutiny group, which she announced to the Neill committee on 15 July. The Government's policy is one of appointment on merit. The previous Government did not always adopt that approach.

Mr. Gordon Marsden (Blackpool, South)

Does my hon. Friend share my pleasure at the Government's successful attempts to increase the number of disabled people, women and people from ethnic minorities given public appointments? Does he also share my satisfaction at the decrease in the number of business people given such appointments who have no connections with the areas that they purport to represent?

Mr. Kilfoyle

I think that the commissioner would agree that the Government have increased the number of women, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities who serve on public bodies. It is certainly true that, rather than bringing people in from outside an area for political reasons, we have implemented the principle of proportionality in those appointments to ensure that they are far more representative of the population in a given area.

Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey)

Would Ministers be prepared to contemplate taking appointments, such as health service appointments, out of the hands of Ministers and passing them not to the Cabinet joint consultative committee but to an all-party forum—for example, the relevant Select Committee—where they could be scrutinised and approved in public and independently?

Mr. Kilfoyle

The arguments for appointments coming before Select Committees, analogous to the experience in America, have been well rehearsed, but there are sound reasons for not doing that. The hon. Gentleman must remember that all appointments are subject to the usual scrutiny by the Neill committee. The report of the Commissioner for Public Appointments gives due credit to the Government for the way in which they apply the Nolan principles to those appointments.