Membership and Staff
19. The following Members were appointed to the Committee
on 14 July 1997: Mr Crispin Blunt, Mr Julian Brazier, Mr Menzies
Campbell, Mr Jamie Cann, Mr Harry Cohen, Mr Michael Colvin , Mr
Bruce George, Mr Jimmy Hood, Mr John McWilliam, Mrs Laura Moffatt
and Ms Dari Taylor. Mr Bruce George was elected Chairman at the
Committee's first meeting on 16 July 1997. There are seven Labour
members, three Conservative members and one Liberal Democrat member.
The membership of the Committee remained unchanged over the Session.
A record of Members' participation levels in Committee activities
is at Annex E.[15]
20. Specialist Advisers are appointed to elucidate
matters of complexity within the Committee's order of reference.
Some are appointed for the duration of particular inquiries; others
advise in more general terms. The following were appointed as
Specialist Advisers to the Committee during the course of the
Session: Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Alcock; Professor Michael
Clarke, Executive Director, Centre for Defence Studies, Kings
College, University of London; Rear Admiral Richard Cobbold, Director,
Royal United Services Institute; Professor Keith Hartley, Director,
Centre for Defence Economics, University of York; Andrew Keeling;
Dr David Kirkpatrick, Defence Engineering Group, University College
London; Jane Sharp, Centre for Defence Studies, Kings College,
University of London and Major General Peter Sheppard. The cost
of their fees and expenses amounted to £22,963.15 (fees £19,749.73;
expenses £3,213.42). Our team of Advisers have been chosen
to represent a broad range of expertise within the Committee's
field of inquiry. They include the heads of three major institutes
working on defence and security issues. They include a civilian
and former military engineer and two economists, as well as experts
in all three of the Services. At an annual cost of less than half
the salary of a senior academic, we believe they represent extraordinary
good value for money to the public purse. We are grateful to them
for the time and expertise they have given to the Committee in
return for a very modest pecuniary reward. We shall continue to
build on our team of advisers in the current session. The Committee
has also enjoyed the unstinting support of its five full-time
staff. They were: Committee Clerk: Mr A R Kennon (until 30 September
1997), Mr P A Evans (from 1 October 1997); Ms S McGlashan, Assistant
Clerk; Mr A M Kidner, Senior Clerk (seconded from NAO until 30
September 1997); Mr S T Fiander, Senior Clerk (Seconded from NAO
from 1 October 1997); Mr J H Davies, Higher Executive Officer;
and Mrs K E Watling, Secretary.
15 Members also participate in a number of delegations
to international bodies relating to defence and security issues-Mr
George is a delegate to the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA) and
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Mr Campbell is a delegate to the
NAA; Mr Cohen is a delegate to the NAA; Mr Colvin is a delegate
to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union. Back
|
