§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are being taken to appoint senior directors of the proposed environment agency. [26620]
§ Mr. AtkinsI have informed the environment agency advisory committee that it may commence the recruitment of senior directors of the proposed environment agency. Approval has already been given for the recruitment of the chief executive, as announced in my reply of 21 April to my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Coombs), columns 288–89.
Parliamentary approval to this new service will be sought in a summer supplementary estimate for the Department of the Environment's environmental protection and water vote, class VII, vote 3. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £135,000 will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.
790WThis expenditure is required to meet the cost of recruiting up to six directors. Its urgency reflects the need to have directors in place as soon as possible after Royal Assent, so that they can support the chief executive in planning for the agency to take over its functions from predecessor bodies on 1 April 1996. The successful candidates will not be formally appointed as directors until after the Bill has received Royal Assent.