5.
asked the Attorney-General to what extent it has been the practice of the advisory committee on the appointment of General Commissioners of Income Tax for the area including the county borough of Oldham and the urban district of Chadderton to ask for nominations or recommendations for membership from representative local organisations including the trade union movement.
There have been no appointments of General Commissioners for the Oldham area of the Middleton Division since 1st January, 1960. No question of the Advisory Committee asking for nominations or recommendations has, therefore, arisen. It would not, however, in any event be in the public interest to disclose particulars of the procedure of the Advisory Committee, which is appointed by my noble Friend the Lord Chancellor to advise him personally and confidentially.
Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that, while appreciating both the promptitude and the courtesy of the letter which he has sent me today, its content and mental pabulum are non-nutritional? While I respectfully agree that, in the appointment of directors of I.C.I., the General Commissioners for Income Tax or the Bench of Bishops, political considerations should not predominate, one is aware of the fact that they never seem to produce a Socialist majority.
So far as the General Commissioners of Income Tax are concerned, I think it is very desirable indeed that all questions of politics should be kept outside appointments of the Commissioners—political views and all that. I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we do want, if we can, to get taxpayers from all sections of the community.
6.
asked the Attorney-General what was the date of the most recent appointment of a General Commissioner for Income Tax for the area including Oldham; and when further appointments are contemplated.
The 31st July, 1958. It is not possible to forecast when a vacancy is likely to occur.
Could the right hon. and learned Gentleman say whether the present limit of fourteen is a statutory limit or merely a discretionary limit, and whether vacancies can be made, for example, by simply increasing the number, without statutory intervention?
I think I am right in saying that it is a statutory limit, but I will look into the point.