§ Mr. CollinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many appointments she has made to public bodies since 7 June; and how many are in her gift. [15481]
§ Mr. MorleyInformation about numbers of ministerial appointments to public bodies is included in the Cabinet Office's annual report, "Public Bodies". Copies of this are placed in the Library of the House and the report is published on the Cabinet Office's internet website. The next edition of "Public Bodies", which will include numbers of appointments at 31 March 2001, will be published around the end of the year.
During the period 7 June 2001 to 31 October 2001, my Department made 33 ministerial appointments to public bodies. This figure includes 13 reappointments. The total number of appointments, which are currently within the gift of DEFRA Ministers, is 781.