§ 2.51 p.m.
§ Baroness SHARPLESMy 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 they will provide an up-to-date list of all Government and quasi-Government boards, indicating how many chairmen and other members are paid from public funds.
§ The LORD PRIVY SEAL (Lord Peart)My Lords, the Directory of Paid Public Appointments, first published in 1976, lists the Government bodies of which chairmen or any of the members are paid from public funds. The Civil Service Department is at present preparing, in consultation with appointing Departments, a revised edition of the Directory which will be published later this year.
§ Baroness SHARPLESMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord the Leader of the House, for that reply. Please can he tell us the ratio of men to women appointed to these boards?
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I cannot give that information. Appointments are made only on ability. There is no sex differentiation in that sense.
§ Lord BALFOUR of INCHRYEMy Lords, can the Government add to the list the figure of total cost to public funds of these various bodies?
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I do not have the figure. I shall certainly look at that to see whether we can assess it. However, it would be a very complicated task and expensive to compile.
§ Lord BALFOUR of INCHRYEMy Lords, I only want a total figure.
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I shall try to obtain it.
§ Lord AVEBURYMy Lords, since the date when the list was last published, can the noble Lord say whether the number of these appointments has increased or diminished? Assuming that it is the former, does it not frequently happen that, when the purposes for which these organisations were first established cease to apply, instead of being dissolved, they find something else to do?—as was the case with the Location of Offices Bureau, which was set up to move jobs out of London but which is now moving them back in.
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I think that the noble Lord will accept that it is important to have this information. The Directory is a very useful document, and I recommend the noble Lord on the Liberal Benches to read it very carefully. We hope that the new edition will be published during the Summer Recess; it will contain a great deal of valuable information.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, will the noble Lord also consider publishing the cost of administration? In a body such as the Equal Opportunities Commission, the cost of administration has steadily risen as a percentage of the total outgoings. For the assistance of research students, will he put an asterisk against those names who are not known Labour supporters?
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I do not think that the noble Lord is his usual self today; he is getting rather finicky. Let us wait and see what the Directory looks like. In fact, I shall try to have a copy sent to him, even though it may cost something!
§ Lord ANNANMy Lords, can the noble Lord the Leader of the House say whether, in fact, a review is to be undertaken of the amounts of pay given to such chairmen and member; of committees? Will he not agree that the time has come to review some of these emoluments, in view of the fact that they have not been changed for years and that chairmen of many important concerns, although nominally called part-time, sometimes work full-time in the sense that their week-ends are very often not their own?
§ Lord PEARTMy Lords, I accept what the noble Lord has said. The Top Salaries Review Board covers part of this and it will be reporting very soon.