House of Commons Liaison Committee Select Committees and Public Appointments First Report of Session 2010–12 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 July 2011 HC 1230 Published on 4 September 2011 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £14.50 Liaison Committee The Liaison Committee is appointed to consider general matters relating to the work of select committees; to advise the House of Commons Commission on select committees; to choose select committee reports for debate in the House and to hear evidence from the Prime Minister on matters of public policy. Current membership Sir Alan Beith MP (Liberal Democrat, Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Chair) The Chair of the following Select Committees are members of the Liaison Committee: Administration – Rt Hon Sir Alan Haselhurst MP (Conservative, Saffron Walden) Backbench Business – Natascha Engel MP (Labour, North East Derbyshire) Business, Innovation and Skills – Mr Adrian Bailey MP (Labour/Co-op, West Bromwich West) Communities and Local Government – Mr Clive Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield South East) Culture, Media and Sport – Mr John Whittingdale MP (Conservative, Maldon) Defence – Rt Hon James Arbuthnot MP (Conservative, North East Hampshire) Education – Mr Graham Stuart MP (Conservative, Beverley and Holderness) Energy and Climate Change – Mr Tim Yeo MP (Conservative, South Suffolk) Environmental Audit – Joan Walley MP (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent North) Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Miss Anne McIntosh MP (Conservative, Thirsk and Malton) European Scrutiny – Mr William Cash MP (Conservative, Stone) Finance and Services – John Thurso MP (Liberal Democrat, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) Foreign Affairs – Richard Ottaway MP (Conservative, Croydon South) Health – Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP (Conservative, Charnwood) Home Affairs – Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Labour, Leicester East) Human Rights (Joint Committee) – Dr Hywel Francis MP (Labour, Aberavon) International Development – Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP (Liberal Democrat, Gordon) Justice – Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP (Liberal Democrat, Berwick-upon-Tweed) Northern Ireland Affairs – Mr Laurence Robertson MP (Conservative, Tewkesbury) Political and Constitutional Reform – Mr Graham Allen MP (Labour, Nottingham North) Procedure – Rt Hon Greg Knight MP (Conservative, East Yorkshire) Public Accounts – Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP (Labour, Barking) Public Administration – Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) Regulatory Reform – Mr Robert Syms MP (Conservative, Poole) Science and Technology – Andrew Miller MP (Labour, Ellesmere Port and Neston) Scottish Affairs – Mr Ian Davidson MP (Labour/Co-op, Glasgow South West) Selection – Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Conservative, The Cotswolds) Standards and Privileges – Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) Statutory Instruments – Mr George Mudie MP (Labour, Leeds East) Transport – Mrs Louise Ellman MP (Labour/Co-op, Liverpool Riverside) Treasury – Mr Andrew Tyrie MP (Conservative, Chichester) Welsh Affairs – David T C Davies MP (Conservative, Monmouth) Work and Pensions – Dame Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen South) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Order No 145. The Standing Orders are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons- select/liaison-committee/. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Jacqy Sharpe (Clerk), Philippa Helme (Second Clerk), Paul Evans (Clerk to the National Policy Statements Sub- Committee), Kevin Candy (Senior Committee Assistant) and Lee Chiddicks (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerks of the Liaison Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5675; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Select Committees and Public Appointments 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Background 5 Introduction 5 The Constitution Unit findings 6 The Institute for Government findings 6 Recent developments 7 A Statutory Veto 7 Joint recruitment by Parliament and Government 7 An “effective veto” 7 Broadening the scope 7 2 What are pre-appointment hearings for? 8 3 Agreeing the job specification 10 4 Information about other candidates 12 5 Power of veto 14 The Office of Budget Responsibility - an exceptional case? 14 An “effective veto” 15 A power of dismissal? 18 6 Which posts should be subject to the hearings? 19 The current list 19 The IfG’s proposals 19 The Government’s proposals 19 Our proposals 20 Political appointments 21 7 Consolidated guidance 22 Conclusions and recommendations 23 Annex 1: List of pre-appointment hearings held, July 2008 to July 2011 26 Annex 2: Table of proposed categorisations of posts to be subject to pre- appointment hearings 31 Annex 3: Indicative list of posts to be subject to pre-appointment hearings 32 Annex 4: Joint Guidance for Departments and Select Committees 35 Formal Minutes 46 Witnesses 47 List of printed written evidence 47 Select Committees and Public Appointments 3 Summary In this report we consider the experience of some three years of holding “pre- appointment” hearings by select committees to examine the “preferred candidate” for certain public appointments, before a Minister proceeds to confirm an appointment. The experiment has been a success and the procedure represents a modest step forward in securing democratic accountability of ministerial decision-making. However, we recommend a number of changes to the system as it stands. The list of posts to which the procedure applies should be refined. We propose, for the purposes of further discussion, a three-part list. Posts in the first tier are those we consider to be of sufficient constitutional significance as to require a process which is effectively a joint appointment by Government and the House of Commons. Posts in the second tier are those which we propose should be subject to an enhanced and improved version of the current process, and which should be subject to an “effective veto” by the House of Commons or its committees. For posts in the third tier we propose that a pre-appointment hearing should be at the discretion of committees. The procedure for pre-appointment hearings should be refined to provide for: • greater consultation between Ministers and committees at the outset of the recruitment process on the definition of the post and the criteria for selection; • more information to be provided to committees in advance of hearings about the field of candidates from which the preferred candidate has been selected; • a recognition that it may be appropriate for the Chair of a committee to discuss privately with a Minister any reservations the Committee may have about a candidate before issuing its report and before the Minister proceeds to a decision; • a resolution of the House of Commons confirming appointments in certain cases. We annex to this report a draft of proposed guidance to be agreed between this Committee and the Government setting out the new procedures. Select Committees and Public Appointments 5 1 Background Introduction 1. In 2008, following an undertaking made in the Governance of Britain Green Paper1 and negotiations between the Cabinet Office and the Liaison Committee, a system of “pre- appointment hearings” by select committees was introduced.2 2. In its final report of the last Parliament, the previous Liaison Committee looked at the findings of research which it had commissioned (jointly with the Cabinet Office) from the Constitution Unit at University College London (UCL) on the operation of the pre- appointment hearings system.3 The research found that the hearings had met their purpose and that they should continue. The Committee agreed with these findings and recommended: a review of the criteria for determining which posts should be subject to pre-appointment hearings which were generally agreed to be inconsistent; that committees should be consulted on the formulation of job descriptions; that there should be provision for a form of conciliation process when committees were minded to recommend against an appointment; and that there should be agreed guidelines between the Liaison Committee and the Government on the purpose, scope and conduct of the hearings.4 3. The new Government, responding after the election in November last year, broadly accepted these recommendations, and agreed to further discussions.5 We decided to hold a short inquiry into how to implement the changes on which there appeared to be consensus, taking account of new research published by the Institute for Government (IfG, an independent think tank) in March 20116 and other recent developments.7 4. We received written evidence from the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the Chair of the Public Chairs’ Forum and the Constitution Unit, UCL.8 We also held an evidence session on 16 June with Lord Adonis and Akash Paun of the Institute for Government and Professor Robert Hazell and Peter Waller of the Constitution Unit as well as the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office.9 We thank all those who contributed to our inquiry. 1 Cm 7170, July 2007 2 Liaison Committee, First Special Report of Session