HL Deb 23 May 1973 vol 342 cc1313-4WA
BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGER

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many civil servants of the rank of Under-Secretary or above who are still in office have been given permission to take appointments when they retire which will involve dealing with matters with which they have been con- cerned in the course of their official duties.

EARL JELLICOE

My Lords, responsibility for this matter lies in general with individual Ministers and only certain categories of case have to be referred to the Civil Service Department. For this reason the number is not known centrally. Permission would ordinarily be sought only shortly before a civil servant retires or leaves the Service. Therefore the number of civil servants with such permission and still in office at any particular time would be small and could be expected to vary widely from month to month. The figure for any particular time could not therefore be regarded as typical.