§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) Whether the post of the interim chief executive of the Ulster-Scots Agency, appointed in 1999, was advertised either internally or externally to the Civil Service; and, if so, whether they will place a copy of the job advertisement in the Library of the House; (b) how many applications were received; (c) which departments were represented on the appointment committee; and (d) what equality procedure was involved. [HL254]
§ Lord Williams of Mostyn(a) The post of interim chief executive of the Ulster-Scots Agency was advertised by means of an interest circular circulated internally to all NICS departments. A copy of the notification will be placed in the Library of the House.
(b) Eleven candidates initially expressed interest. Only two forms were received by the closing date.
(c) The departments represented on the selection panel were the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department of Education.
(d) The competition was carried out in accordance with the Equality Commission's codes of practice.
§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 6 November (WA121) which official, and of what rank, advised the United Kingdom and the Irish Governments; and whether the officials belong to the United Kingdom or the Irish Governments. [HL266]
80WA
§ Lord Williams of MostynOfficials of the United Kingdom and Irish Governments discharge the functions of their particular departments. It would not be appropriate to name the officials nor to disclose their rank as this could also identify an individual officer. I can, however, confirm that the officials who advised the Northern Ireland Administration are employed in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.