§ 6. Mr. Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland)What changes he plans for the process of appointment of special advisers. [1493481]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Christopher Leslie)Special advisers are appointed by Ministers in accordance with the ministerial code and in line with the model contract of employment published by this Administration. Appointment issues are likely to be addressed in future consultation on civil service legislation.
§ Mr. CarmichaelThe Minister will be aware that the number of special advisers in post has risen from 34 in 1994, at a cost of £1.5 million, to 81 in the present year, at a cost of £4.4 million. Does he not agree that that 323 demonstrates a clear need for a change in the appointment process to ensure that the number and cost of special advisers is brought back under control?
§ Mr. LeslieThe hon. Gentleman should investigate the matter in a bit more detail and get it into perspective. There are 81 special advisers, but there are more than 3,000 members of the senior civil service, and that is hardly overwhelming the civil service. The Government have absolutely nothing to apologise for. We have always said that we want strong advice, a strong centre and strong leadership, and that is what we are delivering.
§ Ms Claire Ward (Watford)Does my hon. Friend agree that transparency and accountability are equally important in the appointment of special advisers paid for by Short money, from which the Opposition parties get £5 million a year? Will he consider introducing equal terms of accountability so that they have to publish the details of how they spend that money and my constituents know whether they are getting good value for money, which I suspect that they are not?
§ Mr. LeslieWhat a very interesting proposition. About £3 million is all that is propping up Conservative central office at the moment, and we should not forget that £1 million of Short money goes to the Liberal Democrats as well. I am growing increasingly curious about whether the Opposition's special advisers have standard codes of conduct or proper contracts of employment. Perhaps we should look into that a little further.
§ Mr. Tim Collins (Westmorland and Lonsdale)While considering the appointment and conditions of special advisers, will the Minister confirm the report in this morning's Financial Times that Mr. Ian MacKenzie, the special adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, is trying to encourage all special advisers across Whitehall to join a trade union? He is doing that because, according to one special adviser:
There's a feeling that we do a job defending people and nobody stands up for us".Does the Minister's heart bleed over that as much as mine does? Does he not agree that the job of the civil service trade unions should not be to defend special advisers, but to carry on defending civil servants against special advisers?
§ Mr. LeslieI really think that the hon. Gentleman should always declare an interest before he speaks about this matter. As a former special adviser himself, he should be a little more careful. I am aware of his views on trade union membership. Perhaps if half the members of the shadow Cabinet, who are also former special advisers, were members of trade unions, they would not be at risk of getting the sack.
§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)Does my hon. Friend think that it is remarkable that the Tories have not told us what they have done with the millions of pounds of taxpayers' money that they have received through Short money in the course of the past four years? What is more, they have never disclosed the special advice that they 324 received from Le Pen's deputy in 1995, when the current leader of the Tory party not only met the deputy leader of Le Pen's army, but they finished up as boozing pals.
§ Mr. LeslieI am not familiar with the particular points raised by my hon. Friend, but perhaps more research needs to be done on the matter. Certainly, a lot of questionable advice is being given to the Conservative party these days.