§ Mr. Maddenasked the Minister or the Civil Service (1) what obligations there are on civil servants to declare shareholdings, directorships and other business interests held by their spouses, especially where those interests are directly relevant to the official duties of the civil servant; and if he considers such a register of business interests to be necessary;
(2) what rules govern the holding of shares, or other financial interests, by 17W spouses of civil servants; and if there are any particular rules applying to the spouses of civil servants engaged in duties relating to the issuing of public financial assistance to private companies.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisIt is a fundamental principle of the rules which govern these matters in the Civil Service that civil servants must not subordinate their duty to their private interests, neither are they to put themselves in a position where their duty and their private interests conflict, and they must not make use of their official position to further those interests. Moreover, an officer who comes into official contact with any matter concerning a business organisation in which he has an interest must disclose his interest to his Department. Subject to this, there are no specific restrictions on the outside business interests of civil servants. It is the implicit and well understood assumption that private interests may include those of a spouse The rules which are especially relevant are at paragraphs 9870, 9874 and 9876 of the Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code, a copy of which is in the Library. Given the clear requirement to disclose interests, I see no need for a general register of inter-
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Department Press Television Radio Cinema Posters £ £ £ £ £ 1973–74 Ministry of Defence 2,892,000 1,250,500 5,800 3,000 119,600 Department of Education and Science 22,000 — — — — Department of Employment 342,900 — — — 1,200 Department of the Environment 962,100 1,630,900 15,200 31,800 293,200 Department of Health and Social Security 597,000 146,100 — 83,200 7,900 Home Office 977,100 427,500 — — 10,800 Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications 11,000 119,000 — — — Scottish Office 157,000 258,000 — — — Department of Trade and Industry 1,180,400 1,734,200 17,300 — — Treasury 71,600 — — — — Welsh Office 4,600 — — — — 1974–75 Civil Service Department (Counter-Inflation Publicity Unit) 2,900 — — — — Ministry of Defence 2,873,900 1,313,300 7,000 4,100 12,900 Department of Education and Science 23,200 — — — — Department of Employment 741,100 13,500 — — 9,500 Department of Energy 402,100 1,019,900 — — — Department of the Environment 506,200 1,785,400 15,800 — 300,800 Department of Health and Social Security 646,800 80,600 2,000 102,200 17,700 Home Office 994,300 558,700 2,200 — — Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications 1,900 — — — — Scottish Office 135,000 199,000 4,000 — — Department of Trade and Industry 508,400 — — — 6,600 Welsh Office 2,800 — — — — ests. No rules have been laid down centrally which apply solely to those engaged in financial assistance to industry, but each Department is responsible for issuing a departmental rulebook which applies the general rules to its own staff.