§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list those individuals who are not hon. Members or civil servants currently serving on review bodies and taskforces set up since May 1997 whose appointment was promoted or canvassed for by(a) GPC Market Access, (b) LLM, (c) GJW and (d) other professional lobbying organisations. [49768]
§ The Prime MinisterAny individual or group may suggest names for appointment to a non-departmental public body (NDPB), review body or task force. The Public Appointments Unit maintains a central list to which nominations can also be made.
Appointments to NDPBs are made in line with the principles established by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. These require selection on merit and an independent element in the selection process. The Government have recently announced the extension of the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments to cover all advisory NDPBs as well as executive NDPBs.
642WMinisters appoint to review bodies and task forces individuals—whether Members of Parliament, civil servants or others—on the basis of their expertise and the contribution they will make to the particular review or task. In making appointments, Ministers' decisions are not improperly influenced by the views of any outside organisations. No systematic record is kept of the origin of nominations since it is usually not relevant to such decisions.