§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
When was the policy of allowing civil servants to accept directorships introduced, and what public announcement was then made;
Whether any civil servant holding a directorship has ever been subject to legal proceedings or threatened legal proceedings in respect of his actions as a director; if so, whether they will give details, and if not, why it was considered necessary to indemnify civil servants against civil liability in February 1991; and
Whether they will publish a list of civil servants who have been allowed to accept directorships of companies, giving in each case the name of the civil servant, the date of the appointment and the name of the company; whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of any rules which have applied to such appointments from time to time, and whether they still consider it proper for civil servants to hold such posts.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl Howe): Greater interchange of staff with outside organisations, particularly with the private sector, was recommended by the Fulton Report on the Civil Service in 1968. It has been encouraged by successive administrations since then and regularly commented on in publications and in the media. Full records are not available centrally, but, as part of its interchange programme, DTI has records of organising a developmental non-executive directorship for a civil servant as early as 1978.
There is no central record of any civil servant holding a non-executive directorship or non-executive appointment being subject to legal proceedings or threatened legal proceedings in respect of his or her non-executive role. However, it was agreed in 1991 to allow departments to offer indemnities to civil servants in non-executive roles, because the civil liabilities associated with such appointments might have deterred civil servants from taking up these opportunities and were a potential obstacle to the success of the initiative. The minute announcing the necessary revision to the Civil Service Management Code to allow indemnities was laid before the House on 1 February 1991.
In January 1993, the Cabinet Office (OPSS) published a guidance booklet on non-executive directorships for civil servants, which was placed in the libraries of both Houses. The booklet provides advice for departments and individuals in understanding the role, risks and rules governing directorships for civil servants, lays down that the individuals should not receive payment, and indicates that conflicts of interest should be avoided.
During 1995, when information was last collected centrally, 57 civil servants held at that time or were due to take up non-executive appointments within 120WA private sector companies either for developmental reasons or on an ex officio basis. Although some details may have changed, the names of the departments, civil servants and companies involved are listed below, together with the year of appointment.
0WA
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food A. R. Burne Albert Fisher 1994 R. W. Hathaway RHM 1993 G. A. Hollis Dalgety 1992 M. M. Parker Cadbury 1993 R. G. Purnell H. R. Wallingford 1994 HM Customs and Excise A. Sawyer Royal Bank of Scotland 1994 Ministry of Defence C. V. Balmer Marks and Spencer 1993 R. P. Crane Thorn Security 1991 A. C. H. Mace Avery 1994 D. R. Morris Rank Organisation 1988 B. A. E. Taylor Stirling Fibre Ltd. 1988 Employment Service G. Kennedy Three Town Initiative Co. Ltd. 1995 P. McCabe Great Easterhouse Development Co. Ltd. 1994 Department of the Environment R. G. Courtney Woods of Colchester Ltd. (GEC) 1994 N. Glass CV Apparel Ltd. (Coats Viyella) 1994 J. Hobson Tarmac 1992 D. A. Nichols Anglian Water 1992 W. P. S. Rickett Redland Roof Tiles 1994 J. F. Stoker Hanson plc 1991 A. G. Watson AMEC 1988 Home Office J. Thompson KPMG 1995 Foreign and Commonwealth Office A. Green Vickers Defence Systems 1994 C. Humfrey J. C. Bamford 1994 J. Ling RTZ Borax Not recorded V. Sutherland Save and Prosper 1993 K. Tebbitt Mott Macdonald 1994 D. Wright AEA Technology 1994 Lord Chancellor's Department C. Everett IBM 1994 N. Oppenheimer Marks and Spencer 1995 Royal Mint David Snell OGWR Partnership Trust plc 1991 Scottish Office A. W. Denham The Wise Group 1990 D. Hart Westerhailes Partnership Co. Ltd. 1995 I. McCall Scottish Design 1995 C. C. MacDonald TSB Scotland 1994 D. Y. A. McFaden United Distillers 1990 W. A. MacGregor Strathclyde Green Belt Company 1995 E. Mackay Moray Firth Maltings 1988 G. Rooney Local Investing Networking Co. Ltd. 1994 E. Weeple Westerhailes Partnership Co. Ltd. 1995 122WA
Department of Social Security Richard Allen Marks and Spencer 1994 Department of Trade and Industry B. Bender BTR Industries Ltd. 1993 P. Bunn Glynwed Plastics Ltd. 1994 S. Charik European Transonic wind Tunnel Not recorded G. S. Dart Laing Engineering Ltd. 1991 R. C. Dobbie Vickers 1989 A. Egginton BOC UK Gases Ltd. 1991 I. Jones Glynwed Consumer Products 1994 M.K. O' shea seven seas Ltd. 1992 M. Mayer British Approvals Board for Telecoms Not recorded W. Paton Optimat Ltd. 1989
J. Phillips Forward trust Group 1994 M. Stanley IBM 1995 A. J. Wallard Rank Cintel 1986 Department of Transport R. Balme P& O European Transport services Lit. 1993 J. Denning Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Lit. 1987 D. McMillan P &O European Transport services Lit. 1995 HM Treasury P. Gray Laing Management 1993