§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on how many occasions consideration has been given to whether conflicts of interest have arisen in the case of persons appointed to the post of marketing consultant to Property Services Agency projects;
(2) what is the fee paid per day to N. A. Batchelor for acting as a marketing consultant to Property Services Agency projects;
(3) what steps were taken to ensure that civil service guidelines were fully complied with in the appointment of N. A. Batchelor as a marketing consultant to Property Services Agency projects;
(4) what is his policy on delegating responsibility to the Property Services Agency's chief executive and accounting officer of responsibility for the appointment of all marketing consultants to Property Services Agency projects;
(5) when N. A. Batchelor was appointed as a marketing consultant to Property Services Agency projects;
(6) what outside advice he took before N. A. Batchelor was appointed to the post of marketing consultant to Property Services Agency projects;
(7) what representations he has received as to the appointment of persons to the post of marketing consultants to Property Services Agency projects;
(8) what steps he took to ensure that there was no family connection between the Property Services Agency projects marketing manager and any marketing consultants to Property Services Agency projects.
§ Mr. YeoFollowing the decision of the Property Services Agency projects board to establish a separate sales organisation to help secure the commercial future of the business, immediate advice was required on 229W organisational and other issues. Mr. N. A. Batchelor, who is the husband of the Property Services Agency projects marketing manager, had previously approached Property Services Agency projects' management to offer his services as a marketing consultant. He was appointed at the end of January to produce a report and to carry out some supplementary follow-up work. The commission, which has now been completed, amounted to 19 days in total and he was paid £400 per day.
The chief executive and accounting officer for Property Services Agency services is responsible for the appointment of all consultants. He in turn delegates responsibility to his top management in each of the businesses. Although the Department's normal practice is to appoint consultants after competition, single tender action was taken to appoint Mr. Batchelor, but this was only because the requirement was seen as urgent.
It is not the Department's general practice to seek outside advice when making such appointments and none was sought on this occasion.