§ Lord Denningasked Her Majesty's Government: Whether Charity Commissioners have been appointed in accordance with Schedule 1 to the Charities Act 1993; if so, what are their names and qualifications, salaries and allowances; whether they were appointed as a result of advertisement or by other means of selection, and, if so, by what means; and whether the appointees were already employed in the civil service of the Crown.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch):There are five Charity Commissioners appointed under the Charities Act 1993 by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary and his predecessors. They are the Chief Commissioner, Richard Fries, Legal Commissioners Robert Venables and Jonathon Farquharson, and part-time Commissioners, Tessa Baring and John Bonds.
The Chief Commissioner and the Legal Commissioners are full time career civil servants, Mr. Fries and Mr. Venables at Grade 3, Mr. Farquharson at Grade 4. The Chief Commissioner was appointed following an open competition. The Legal Commissioners, who are Solicitors of the Supreme Court, were appointed by promotion within the government legal service.
The part-time Commissioners were appointed after consultations with a wide range of bodies. Tessa Baring has had a wide experience of the charitable sector, including a period as chairman of the Council of Barnardo's; John Bonds is a qualified accountant who retired after a career in Shell in 1993.
The Commissioners are paid on the appropriate salary scales; in the case of the part-time Commissioners the scale is that applicable to civil servants, on the basis of working six days per month. None of the commissioners receives any additional allowances.