§ Mr. BoatengTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many public appointments, excluding judicial appointments, his Department has made in the last five years; what are the names and positions of the appointees; how many of the positions were advertised; how many of the appointees were on the list held by the Cabinet Office's public appointments unit; and how many of the appointments were made in consultation with(a) the Prime Minister and (b) the Government Chief Whip.
Mr. John M. TaylorA complete answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Lord Chancellor makes over 1,800 non-judicial appointments to bodies for which he has ministerial responsibility. Of those appointments, over 900 were made in the last five years. The great majority of these were made to the advisory committees on justices of the peace where the appointments field largely consists of those who are already JPs, appointments for which are advertised. The table shows the non-judicial public bodies listed under this Department in the Office of Public Service and Science publication "Public Bodies". Of the appointments made in the last five years, 21 were1172W advertised. In addition, two vacancies for barristers on the Legal Aid Board were advertised in Bar News, a publication distributed to all subscribing members of the Bar. While we have no record of how many appointees were on the list held by PAU, six appointments were of people suggested by the PAU; four were made in consultation with the Prime Minister; and one in consultation with the Government Chief Whip.
Entries in Public Bodies Members Executive Bodies Legal Aid Board 14 Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board (although it is now inactive) — Advisory Bodies Insolvency Rules Committee 7 County Court Rule Committee 11 Supreme Court Rule Committee 12 Land Registration Rule Committee 5 Family Proceedings Rule Committee 11 Crown Court Rule Committee 11 Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax 621 Advisory Committees on JPs in England (excluding the Duchy of Lancaster) and Wales 1,037 Judicial Studies Board 55 Advisory Council on Public Records 15 Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct 17 Legal Aid Advisory Committee (since wound-up) 10 Council on Tribunals 21 Law Commission 5 Northern Ireland Court Service—Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax (NI) 15 Advisory Committees on JPs in Northern Ireland 56 Advisory Committees on Juvenile Court Lay Panel 11 Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI) 10