Advisory Committee on Public Appointments

HC Deb 16 January 2001 vol 361 cc133-4W

Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if he will publish the membership and biographical details of his Department's Advisory Committee on Public Appointments; [145168]

(2) on what basis appointments are made to his Department's Advisory Committee on Public Appointments. [145172]

Mr. Chris Smith

[holding answer 15 January 2001]: My Department does not have an Advisory Committee on Public Appointments, but has a pool of Independent Assessors who provide independent scrutiny within the public appointments process as laid down in guidance from the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner's guidance allows Departments the flexibility to decide the criteria for selecting Independent Assessors and the method by which they are selected. We look for people with a wide range of backgrounds and appropriate experience who are able to bring an independent view to the appointments process. We also ensure that the list is representative of the public as a whole in terms of gender, ethnicity, age and disability.

My Department currently has a list of 40 independent Assessors and details are as follows: Professor Dawn Ades: Professor of Art History and Theory, University of Essex John Adshead CBE: Group Personnel Director, Sainsbury's Dr. Eric Anderson FRSE: Chair, National Heritage Memorial Fund Dr. John Ashworth: Chair, British Library Board Averil Burgess OBE: Chair, Independent Schools Inspectorate and former Board Member, Museum of London Antony Butler: Director, Oxford University Careers Service Professor Averil Cameron CBE: Warden, Keble College, Oxford Sue Charteris: Freelance Consultant and former Chief Executive, Merton Borough Council Barry Cox: Deputy Chair, Channel Four Jon Davey: Chair, Media Matrix Partnership William Day: Chief Executive, CARE International UK Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll: Freelance Cultural Consultant. Former Vice Chancellor, University of East Anglia and former Director Victoria and Albert Museum Lord Matthew Evans CBE: Chair, Resource and Fabar and Faber Ltd. Right hon. Lord Faringdon: Commissioner, English Heritage Baroness Flather: Former local councillor and former Governor of Commonwealth Institute Professor Sir Brian Follett FRS: Vice Chancellor, University of Warwick Keith Foreman OBE: Independent Adviser to DfEE and ex Comprehensive School Head Teacher Richard J. Fries: Former Chief Charity Commissioner Jan Hall OBE: Partner, Spencer Stuart and Associates Sheila Hewitt: Board member, Radio Authority Richard Hooper: Chair, Radio Authority Judith Hunt OBE: Special Adviser, Local Government Association and Improvement and Development Agency Brian Hutchinson: Former Corporate Affairs Director. Allied Zurich Kate Jenkins: Chair, Kate Jenkins Associates and former senior Civil Servant Roger Laughton CBE: Head of School of Media, Arts and Communications, University of Bournemouth Janet Lewis-Jones: Freelance Consultant and Board Member of S4C David McDonnell: Chair, National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside Professor Anne McLaren: Research Associate, Wellcome/CRC Institute of Cancer and Development Biology and Board Member, Natural History Museum Stephanie Monk CBE: Group Personnel Director, Granada Compass Plc. Michael Moriarty CB: Former Deputy Chair, Radio Authority and former senior Civil Servant John Neill CBE: Chief Executive, Unipart Group of Companies Trevor Phillips OBE: Broadcaster and Member of the Greater London Authority Baroness Jill Piteathley OBE: Chair, New Opportunities Fund David Quarmby: Chair, British Tourist Authority Dr. Janet Ritterman: Director, Royal School of Music and Board Member of the Arts Council Dr. Ann Robinson: Former Director General, National Association of Pension Funds Peter Troughton: Chief Executive, First Arrow Baroness Young of Old Scone: Chair, English Nature and former Vice Chair BBC Governors Sir Rodney Walker: Chair, UK Sports Council.