§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join(a) PricewaterhouseCoopers. (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG. [156902]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[pursuant to his answer, 3 March 2004, Official Report, c. 978W]: I have become aware that Sir Andrew Woods, ex-Ambassador to Moscow sought permission in April 2000 to join Ernst and Young, and took up the appointment in May 2000. This was listed in the Fourth Report of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. I am unaware of any former officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who since 1998 have asked for permission to join PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche or KPMG.
119WTo locate individual requests from officials earlier than 1998 would incur disproportionate costs.