Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence why his Department decided to take no disciplinary action against those representatives of his Department who were in communication with members of the Civil Service Appeal Board prior to Mr. Colin Wallace's appeal in 1975.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonNo breach of discipline occurred in connection with this communication which would justify action being taken against anyone.
Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is his policy on permitting representatives of his Department to communicate with members of the Civil Service Appeal Board on matters relating to individuals whose cases are due to come before the board;
(2) on how many occasions in the past 20 years representatives of his Department have communicated with members of the Civil Service Appeal Board on matters relating to individuals whose cases are due to come before the board.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Ministry of Defence has many contacts of a routine administrative character with the Civil Service Appeal Board; detailed statistics of these are not kept. As I indicated in my letter of 13 September to my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel (Sir M. Marshall) (of which a copy was placed in the Library), we would not now place before members of the board evidence not available in formal proceedings.