HL Deb 23 July 1973 vol 344 cc1647-8WA
LORD O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many former or acting British civil servants now serve at each grade in:

  1. (1) the Commission of
  2. (2) the Council of Ministers of
  3. (3) the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to
the E.E.C.; and how many in each institution come (or came) from each British Department.

LORD WINDLESHAM

The Office of the United Kingdom Permanent Representative represents the British Government within the institutions of the European Community. In addition to the United Kingdom Permanent Representative himself, there are at present 74 staff of all grades, of whom 37 are of diplomatic rank (the Permanent Representative's Deputy, one officer of Minister rank, 9 Counsellors, 16 First Secretaries, 9 Second Secretaries and a Third Secretary). Of these, 15 are from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which provides certain senior staff and is also responsible for the basic administrative services. The remainder are drawn from the following Departments:

Department of Trade and Industry 6
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 4
Department of the Environment 3
Treasury 2
Customs and Excise 2
Overseas Development Administration 2
Inland Revenue 1
Department of Health and Social Security 1
Department of Employment 1

Recruitment to Community posts, which is solely the responsibility of the Community institutions concerned, is still in train. Applicants are judged in the light of their qualifications for the post to be filled and not by reference to previous employment. No agency of Her Majesty's Government is involved in this process. Comprehensive information is therefore not readily available on posts filled by staff at all levels who have previously in their careers been employed in the United Kingdom Civil Service.