HL Deb 24 July 1972 vol 333 cc1035-8

2.46 p.m.

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Post Office Board has been completed, and if so, whether they will give the names of the members.

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, the Post Office Board consists of Mr. Ryland (Chairman), Mr. Whitney Straight (Deputy Chairman, part-time), Mr. Fennessy, Mr. Laver, Professor Merriman, Mr. Ashton, Mr. Young, Mr. Appleby, Mr. Gladwin and Sir James Lighthill.

Mr. Currall has been appointed with effect from August 1. The Board will have 11 members, out of a possible maximum of 13, and no further appointments are contemplated.

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

My Lords, could the noble Lord consider appointing a woman in the name of efficiency?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, I understand that my right honourable friend's policy is to choose the best qualified person for an appointment, irrespective of sex.

LORD KILMANY

My Lords, arising out of that reply, would my noble friend tell us how many of the members represent Scotland.

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, I do not think that any members are appointed on a regional basis. The members are all appointed to the Board, and the Board itself decides which particular jobs within the Board they shall have. There are no regional members appointed.

LORD KILMANY

My Lords, arising again out of that reply, may I ask my noble friend whether he has not taken steps, whatever regional connection there may be, to see that there are some members of the Board with Scottish characteristics?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, I think the answer to that question is probably the same as I gave to the noble Baroness; that members are not appointed either for being Scotsmen or for being women but for their suitability for the job.

LORD SLATER

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the Answer he has given to-day to this particular Question from Lord Strabolgi is a very unsatisfactory one. The Act came into opertion in 1969, and we are almost on the verge of October, 1972. So nearly three years have elapsed, and it is still open for a further two members to be appointed. Would not the noble Lord agree that it seems ironic that it did not take them long to get rid of the first Chairman appointed to the Board and appoint a new Chairman in his place? Secondly, can the noble Lord tell me what is the position of the member of that Board responsible for the labour problems of the Post Office? Has he certain powers whereby he is able to settle those problems on his own, without consultation with the Board or with the Chairman of the Board?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, no; I do not consider that this is an unsatisfactory situation. My right honourable friend does not consider it a good idea to fill the vacancies at the moment, because the Board has now the right balance of part-time and full-time members. But if the situation should change, the Act gives my right honourable friend the flexibility to make additional appointments. The second part of the noble Lord's supplementary question raises another question, wide of the original one on the Order Paper.

LORD SLATER

My Lords, can the Minister state how many of the members whose names have been given to-day and who form this Board come away from the Civil Service, and how many come away from industry, either from the industrial field, through the C.B.I. or from trade unions affiliated to the T.U.C?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, not without doing a great deal of mental arithmetic at the Despatch Box; but all the information about the members of the Board is available to all your Lordships if you should so wish.

LORD ROBBINS

My Lords, while accepting the sincerity and the integrity of the answers given by the noble Lord, may I ask if he would not agree that it is a most quaint statistical accident that all the efficiency available is concentrated in the male sex?

LORD DENHAM

Very quaint, my Lords.

BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRY

My Lords, I had hoped to raise that point—this is not a laughing matter. Is the noble Lord really telling my noble friend Lady Summerskill, as I understood him to say, that among those most qualified and most efficient to sit on this Board there could not be found one woman?

LORD DENHAM

No, My Lords, I am not saying that. What I am saying is that when my right honourable friend and the Chairman decide who should be appointed to the Board to fill any vacancies they consider who will be most suitable, irrespective of sex.

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

My Lords, can the noble Lord say how many women were interviewed, and how many were considered, before the Board was appointed?

LORD DENHAM

Not without notice, I am afraid, my Lords.

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

None.

LORD HAWKE

My Lords, will my noble friend remember that, on the whole, women use more telephone time than males and therefore should be fully represented.

LORD DENHAM

I will certainly consider what my noble friend has said.