SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS' SHAREHOLDINGS (No.2)

EDM number 522 in 1992-93, proposed by Simon Hughes on 15/07/1992.

That this House notes that, in reply to a Parliamentary question from the honourable Member for Southwark and Bermondsey, the Secretary of State for the Environment stated that Dr David Slater, Chief Inspector of HMIP, 'divested himself of all interests in Technica Ltd., on 27th March 1991 before taking up his appointment as Chief Inspector on 1st May 1991'; accepts that while Dr Slater has never held shares in DNV Technica, the successor company, there is a discrepancy between this reply and Technica Ltd.'s share register return submitted to Companies House and dated 31st March 1992, which records among the issued share capital 'at the date of this return' 5,100 ordinary shares in the name of David Slater; requests the Secretary of State for the Environment to investigate this discrepancy; further calls on the Secretary of State for the Environment to clarify what he meant by 'interests' and whether this includes both shareholdings and directorship; further notes that at the time of the award by the Department of the Environment by single tender action of the further contract to Technica Ltd. in August 1991 it was publicly known that Dr Slater was or recently had been a shareholder and full-time director; believes that the awarding of a consultancy contract by the Department of the Environment to Technica Ltd. by single tender action in these circumstances continues to raise important questions concerning potential conflicts of interest; calls on the Secretary of State for the Environment to make a Parliamentary statement; and further calls upon the Prime Minister to act upon his promises of open government by establishing a compulsory public register of interests for all senior civil servants of grade 7 and above.

This motion has been signed by a total of 10 MPs.