§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will set out the series of procedures by which the Director of Works of the Palace of Westminster is to be appointed.
§ Mr. BeithAn internal public service trawl was conducted in late January and early February. The 17 potential candidates revealed by this method were considered insufficient in both number and qualifications to form the pool from which a successful candidate for this important post should be selected. The Commission therefore decided in February that the net should be cast wider by employing management consultants both to advertise the post and to identify further candidates by search. As a result of these latter exercises, a total of about 85 serious candidates was identified.
A group consisting of senior officers of both Houses, the Department of the Environment and the Civil Service Commission sifted all applications, with the assistance of the management consultants, in mid-April, and in early May the final shortlist was interviewed by a board including the Serjeant at Arms and Black Rod, a former Director General of Property Holdings and a senior vice-president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The board was chaired by a former chief valuer of the board of Inland Revenue.
The Commission agreed in March that the post of Director of Works should, like a number of other senior appointments in the House of Commons service, be made 338W by Mr. Speaker, but in view of the intention that the director will serve both Houses it was also agreed that Mr. Speaker should consult the Lord Chairman of Committees before making his decision. In the light of the advice of the interview board, and after duly consulting the Lord Chairman, the appointment by Mr. Speaker of Mr. Henry Webber as the first Director of Works was announced on 27 June.