Call for 'confirmation' hearings

Plans to subject ministers' preferred candidates for major public positions to US-style grillings by MPs have been backed by an influential Commons committee.

The Public Administration Select Committee, which would be among those carrying out such "confirmation" hearings, said it could play a valuable role.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced last summer that major appointments would be subject to hearings as part of moves to boost the role of Parliament.

The committee said the sessions should be used wherever a politician was going to have the final say after an independent selection process on who took a role "for which accountability to Parliament and the public are an important part.

"We would expect pre-appointment hearings to apply to major auditors, ombudsmen, regulators and inspectors, as well as to those responsible for the appointments system itself," it concluded.

"It is important, however, to establish with clarity what the purpose of preappointment hearings would be, before deciding to which posts they might apply."

The Public Appointments Commissioner Janet Gaymer warned the committee that high-profile individuals in the private sector might be unable to apply if their candidacy would be publicly exposed to employers and the markets before the job was formally accepted.

She said she would "probably not" have put herself forward for the job and also suggested such public grillings could reduce the number of women prepared to apply for posts.

The committee said it did not believe people would be put off but said the Government should "attempt to monitor the effect on the number, balance and quality of applications".

The findings of the hearings will not be binding but the committee said the process would "only be of any significance if there is the possibility that ministers might change their minds and that a candidate's appointment might not be approved."

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