SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS' SHAREHOLDINGS

EDM number 495 in 1992-93, proposed by Simon Hughes on 14/07/1992.

That this House notes that the Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, David Slater, currently holds more than 10 per cent. of the shares in an environmental consultancy company DNV Technica and was a founding director of that company; further notes that, three months after Dr Slater's appointment, DNV Technica was awarded a contract to advise the Department of Environment which was not let by competitive tender; believes that Dr Slater's shareholding illustrates the potential conflict of interests presented by senior civil servants' shareholdings, particularly those of the chief executives of Next Steps agencies; further believes that the regulations from the current Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code are inadequate because they rely on voluntary admissions of conflict of interest; calls upon the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, as the Minister reponsible for the day-to-day running of the Civil Service, to make a Parliamentary statement concerning Dr David Slater's shareholding, including whether it was reported to his establishment officer or to the Secretary of State for the Environment at the time of his appointment; further calls upon the Prime Minister to act upon his promises of open government by establishing a compulsory and public Register of Interests for all senior civil servants of grade 7 and above to include chief executives of Next Steps agencies as well as special advisers to Ministers.

This motion has been signed by a total of 24 MPs.