27.
asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether his Department has any plans for limiting the extent and the cost of paid public appointments made by Ministers.
No, Sir. Responsibility for appointments rests with departmental Ministers, who, as a matter of policy, keep under review the numbers and costs of the appointments they make. In many cases the numbers of appointments are enumerated in the controlling statute or constitution.
Have the Government considered the case for encouraging the establishing of a committee to look into the whole matter, preferably along the lines of the Public Accounts Committee? Does the Minister accept that, if the Government agreed, that would go at least some way towards allaying the justified suspicions of the apparently endless growth of ministerial appointments to non-political bodies outside the Civil Service?
The hon. Gentleman's opinions and observations are fascinating, but they do not come within my field of responsibility.
In the Government's view, what are the qualities of the new Chairman of Cable and Wireless which prompted the Government to make that appointment?
The qualities and the criteria for such appointments are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry.