§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years the Ministerial veto has been exercised in regard to the appointment of chief officers by local authorities; and whether he will now seek to relinquish this power.
§ Mr. SkeffingtonMy right hon. Friend has no power to veto the appointment of any chief officer. The approval of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is222W required to the appointment of Chief Constables and Chief Fire Officers and I understand that on five occasions during the last ten years he has withheld his approval of Chief Constable appointments: twice in 1958 and once each in 1959, 1962 and 1963. There have been no occasions during this period on which he has refused to approve the appointment of a Chief Fire Officer.
In the case of Children's Officers and Chief Education Officers, my right hon. Friends the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Education and Science are respectively required to approve the short list of candidates from which appointments will be made.
A recommendation that appointments to principal officer posts should be entirely within the discretion of local authorities was included in the report of the Maud Committee on the Management of Local Government and I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport (Mr. Roy Hughes) on 13th June.—[Vol. 748, c. 51–2.]