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Cabinet secretary asked to intervene in Carol Mills clerk appointment row Cabinet secretary asked to intervene in Carol Mills clerk appointment row
(about 4 hours later)
Parliament's most senior official has asked the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to intervene in a row over the appointment of his successor. Parliament's most senior official has asked Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, to delay sending the name of his proposed successor to the Queen for approval after a major row over the appointment.
Sir Robert Rogers, the clerk of the house who retires at the end of this month, has called for a delay amid signs that the leading internal candidate may launch formal proceedings against the decision to appoint an outsider from Australia. Sir Robert Rogers, the clerk of the house who retires at the end of this month, has intervened amid signs that the leading internal candidate might launch formal proceedings against the decision to appoint an outsider from Australia.
There are fears that Buckingham Palace, which would automatically approve a name proposed by a formal panel, may face embarrassment if the appointment were overturned in an employment tribunal. There are fears that Buckingham Palace, which would automatically approve a name proposed by a panel, might face embarrassment if the appointment were overturned in an employment tribunal.
David Natzler, the clerk assistant who was the strong internal candidate to succeed Rogers, is understood to have asked for all the documents from the selection process after a panel chaired by the commons speaker, John Bercow, appointed Carol Mills, the secretary of the department of parliamentary services in Australia. Natzler was the runner-up. David Natzler, the clerk assistant who was the strong internal candidate to succeed Rogers, is understood to have asked for all the documents from the selection process after a panel chaired by John Bercow, the Commons speaker, appointed Carol Mills, the secretary of the department of parliamentary services in Australia. Natzler was the runner-up.
Bercow, who has won widespread praise for the way he is modernising parliament by summoning ministers on a more regular basis, is keen to reform the clerks' office. He ensured that the appointment was advertised for the first time in history.Bercow, who has won widespread praise for the way he is modernising parliament by summoning ministers on a more regular basis, is keen to reform the clerks' office. He ensured that the appointment was advertised for the first time in history.
But critics have seized on an email by Rosemary Laing, the clerk of the Australian senate, who has expressed "disbelief and dismay" at the proposed appointment of Mills. The two Canberra officials have been at loggerheads after Mills admitted that her officials "may have inadvertently breached" rules over the use of security cameras after they monitored the office of a Labor senator as part of an investigation into a parliamentary official. But critics have seized on an email by Rosemary Laing, the clerk of the Australian senate, who has expressed "disbelief and dismay" at the proposed appointment of Mills. The two Canberra officials have been at loggerheads after Mills admitted that her officials might have "inadvertently breached" rules over the use of security cameras after they monitored the office of a Labor senator as part of an investigation into a parliamentary official.
In her email to officials at Westminster, Laing said that Mills is an administrator and unqualified for the complex work of drafting legislation. Laing wrote: "We were utterly taken aback here when we saw a brief press report in early July that Carol Mills had emerged as 'frontrunner' … It seemed to us impossible that someone without parliamentary knowledge and experience could be under consideration for such a role. In her email to officials at Westminster, Laing said that Mills was an administrator and unqualified for the complex work of drafting legislation. Laing wrote: "We were utterly taken aback here when we saw a brief press report in early July that Carol Mills had emerged as 'frontrunner' … It seemed to us impossible that someone without parliamentary knowledge and experience could be under consideration for such a role.
"The secretary role has no procedural or constitutional dimension that you or I would recognise as a core function of a clerk. It has no connection with the day-to-day business of a parliament, other than in the maintenance of infrastructure and the provision of some ancillary services. While these are clearly very important things, they do not make a parliament. It is essentially the role of an administrator and bears no resemblance to the role of a professional parliamentary officer.""The secretary role has no procedural or constitutional dimension that you or I would recognise as a core function of a clerk. It has no connection with the day-to-day business of a parliament, other than in the maintenance of infrastructure and the provision of some ancillary services. While these are clearly very important things, they do not make a parliament. It is essentially the role of an administrator and bears no resemblance to the role of a professional parliamentary officer."
It is understood that a group of senior MPs at Westminster have written to David Cameron to express their concerns at the proposed appointment of Mills. Bercow has sent Mills's name to No 10 to forward to the palace for approval after a six-strong panel approved the appointment. The panel, chaired by the speaker, consisted of the former commons leader, Andrew Lansley, the shadow commons leader, Angela Eagle, the public accounts committee chair, Margaret Hodge, the Lib Dem MP John Thurso and the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Dame Julie Mellor. It is understood that a group of senior MPs at Westminster have also written to David Cameron to express their concerns at the proposed appointment of Mills. Bercow has sent Mills's name to No 10 to forward to the palace for approval after a six-strong panel approved the appointment. The panel, chaired by the speaker, consisted of Andrew Lansley, the former commons leader, Angela Eagle, the shadow commons leader, Margaret Hodge, the public accounts committee chair, Lib Dem MP John Thurso and Dame Julie Mellor, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.
A spokesperson for the speaker said: "Following an open and fair recruitment process, the interview panel reached a collective decision on the person to recommend for appointment, based on extensive questioning and assessment of presentations given by each candidate...A wide range of candidates of extremely high calibre were considered by the panel. The speaker and the house of commons commission thank all the candidates who have participated, to date, in this on-going recruitment process. An announcement regarding this appointment will be made by the cabinet office, in due course."