§ 12. Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)If he will make a statement on the average length of service of civil servants within his Department. [75368]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Peter Kilfoyle)On 1 March 1999, the average length of service of civil servants in the Cabinet Office, including both permanent and loaned staff, was 11 years and four months.
§ Mr. FabricantI am grateful for that answer. What assurances has the Minister's master given to the permanent secretary of his Department that there will be no repetition of the events that occurred when he was at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, when Mr. Neil Whitney, who worked in the Minister's private office, was sent to a gulag—the BSE department in Tolworth—for saying that it was improper of the Minister to order six bottles of Macallan malt for his private cabinet at the taxpayer's expense?
§ Mr. KilfoyleApart from the fact that the hon. Gentleman's question is a load of rubbish, that is as far removed from the reality of the situation as it is possible to be, I can tell him that the Cabinet Office is a happy ship for all who work in it.