Office for Fair Access
Debate between Kevin Barron and Vince Cable(12 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Vince Cable
I have just answered that question. The Universities Minister and I were involved in the decision, and it was made by us and by no one else. As for the general political drift of the hon. Gentleman’s question, I think it fair to point out—as some of the national newspapers did not—that among the institutions that Professor Ebdon has advised on higher education policy is the Conservative party.
Mr Barron
When a Select Committee reaches a conclusion on an overtly party political basis, it is easy for the Executive to ignore it, and the Committee should not be used in this way. Is the Secretary of State concerned that people seeking such appointments in the future will not want to put themselves through the machine that has been set against Les Ebdon in the past few months, in the media and elsewhere, and that we will end up with a second XI batting for Britain, not a first XI?
Vince Cable
This is a first-class appointment, which was arrived at in a proper, open and fair manner. As I said, I welcome the role that the Select Committee plays; I used to serve on the Treasury Committee, and the critical reviews it gave the members of the Monetary Policy Committee were very valuable. Critical comments have been made in this case, they have been addressed by Professor Ebdon and by me, and he will therefore come before the Select Committee on a regular basis to report. I think that the Select Committee scrutiny process has been very valuable.