HL Deb 05 April 2004 vol 659 cc216-7WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish information on the main areas of work delegated by Ministers to each special adviser, identifying the main areas of departmental policy with which each special adviser is concerned. [HL2080]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out the main areas of work to be undertaken by special advisers. A copy of the code of conduct is in the Library of the House.

In addition, in their response to the ninth report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the Government agreed that where a special adviser has a particular expertise or works mainly in a particular area of the department's work this will be indicated in the annual statement to Parliament on the numbers and pay bands of special advisers by department and the overall salary cost.

The list for 2003–04 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the current financial year.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government: (a) Whether special advisers are recruited on the basis of criteria and procedures laid down by individual Ministers, or whether the criteria and procedures are agreed by Ministers collectively; and (b) what are the criteria and procedures which have been used by Ministers (whether individually or collectively) in recruiting their special advisers. [HL2081]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

Since their inception in the early 1970s, it has been the nature of special adviser appointments that they should be outside the rules of fair and open competition as they are personal appointments made by the Minister at his or her request to meet particular needs. For these positions, Ministers seek a combination of political and personal commitment, relevant expertise and personal trust and confidence. It is because of this combination of qualities required for the job that the Civil Service order in council and the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment rules recognise that it is necessary to exempt such posts from the normal Civil Service recruitment rules.