§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in respect of how many boards, authorities, committees and other public bodies he is responsible, in whole or in part, for appointments; what is the total number of such appointments; and what is the total public spending by such boards, authorities, committees and other public bodies.
§ Mr. GummerInformation about the nationalised industries and non-departmental public bodies for which I am responsible is contained in "Public Bodies 1993". A copy is available in the House of Commons Library and shows the number of bodies, their gross expenditure and the number of appointments to each body.
"Public Bodies" includes the Commons Commissioners and valuation tribunals, for which I am responsible but to which appointments are made by the Lord Chancellor and local authorities respectively.
I also appoint one-third of the members of the seven national park authorities in England and nine of the 35 members of the Broads Authority. Departmental support for these bodies in 1992–93 was £16.4 million.
No central record is maintained of departmental committees and boards not listed in "Public Bodies".