HC Deb 12 February 1976 vol 905 cc333-4W
Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will announce the names of the new members of the Supplementary Benefits Commission.

Mrs. Castle

Five vacancies have arisen on the Commission following the retirement of four of its members at the end of their terms of office and the appointment of Mrs. Carmichael, a member of the Commission, as the new Deputy Chairman under Professor Donnison.

The following are the names of the new members, who have all agreed to serve for a three-year term: Mr. Edwin Brown, Director of Social Services, North Yorkshire County Council. Miss Brenda Dean, Assistant Secretary, Manchester Branch of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades and Member of the Printing Industry Training Board. Mrs. Carmen Holtham, Magistrate, Thurrock Bench, and Citizens' Advice Bureau Organiser. Councillor Arthur Stabler, Chairman of the Housing Renewals Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Social Services Committee, Newcastle Metropolitan District Council. Dr. Bernice Tanner, General Practitioner, North Kensington.

The Commission has one of the most important tasks in the field of social service and I am very glad to have been able to bring together people with so wide a range of knowledge and personal experience. Half of the Commission's members will now be women.

In announcing the new appointments I am very conscious of the debt owed to the retiring members of the Commission who have contributed so much to its work.