§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what recommendations his Department has given to the Manpower Services Commission about conflicts of interest that may arise for staff members of the Commission who have outside commercial interests;
(2) whether his Department has conducted any internal inquiry into any members of the staff of the Manpower Services Commission involved in other commercial interests which have secured Government and European information contracts; whether there was a conflict of interest; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether his Department has received any representations from trade unions or other organisations expressing their concern about certain events possibly bringing into disrepute the Manpower Services Commission; and what assurances were given.
§ Mr. BoothThe staff of Manpower Services Commission are subject to the rules applying generally to the Civil Service regarding outside commercial interests. These rules require that officers 809W must place their duty before their private interests and they must not make use of their official position to further these interests. Neither should they put themselves in a position where their duty and their private interests conflict. I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, following certain newspaper articles last month, the director of the commission made inquiries into a suggestion that the MSC's head of information might have been connected with the letting of a contract by the European Commission to a British public relations company, with which the officer concerned had had a connection. The conlusion of the inquiries was that the officer concerned had played no part in the award of the contract and that there had been no breach of the Civil Service rules. I have received no representations on this matter from trade unions or other organisations, but I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that staff side officers of the commission met the director of the commission last month to express their concern at the newspaper article and other matters. They were informed of the outcome of the inquiries to which I have already referred.
An inquiry was carried out in the early part of 1978 into the handling of expenditure on marketing and public relations in the Manpower Services Commission. The inquiry made a number of recommendations on these matters which have been implemented.