§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which serving civil servants in his Department are presently directors of companies; and if he will indicate for each(a) the name of the company concerned and (b) if the annual remuneration was (i) £1 to £5,000, (ii) £5,000 to £10,000 and (c) above £10,000. [18134]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThere are five MOD civil servants who hold non-executive directorships arranged by the Department for career developmental reasons. These directorships are with the following companies:
- Northern British Newsprint
- Rank Organisation
- Marks and Spencer Subsidiary Board
- Avery Berkel
- Thorn Security.
These appointments are unpaid, although in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines, individuals may accept payment of expenses incurred while carrying out the duties of the directorship.
Other staff may have privately held non-executive directorships, for example, the board of a family company. If there is no conflict of interest and the duties are performed outside official time there would normally be no bar to an individual holding a directorship and being paid accordingly.