Office for Students: Appointment Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Joanna Cherry
Main Page: Joanna Cherry (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh South West)Department Debates - View all Joanna Cherry's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(6 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Joseph Johnson
Had Opposition Members done half as much as Mr Young has to promote outcomes for disadvantaged students, they would be in a better position to disparage his achievements. Mr Young’s school has done better than the national average for its pupils on the pupil premium in both this most recent year and the last. That is something of which he can be rightly proud.
Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)
The Minister is at pains to say that this appointment was Nolan-compliant. It is standard practice in modern times for employers to look carefully at the social media profile of those they appoint, particularly to public office. What due diligence was carried out? Were those who appointed Mr Young to the post aware of these obnoxious tweets? If so, what was it about him that made him so uniquely qualified for this post over those without such an obnoxious social media profile?
Joseph Johnson
As I have said, the competition through which Toby Young was appointed was rigorous, open and fair. Like all the interviews, his was conducted by a panel consisting of the three people I have mentioned. It was an apolitical and independent-minded board of panellists who deemed Toby Young worthy of appointment.