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European Communities (Employment in the Civil Service) Order 2007

My Lords, perhaps they are better paid, but do they enjoy the degree of academic freedom that the noble Lord has always prided himself on in all his work in British universities, when he has extolled their virtues over almost all others? So there is a little bit of give and take on that position—but I accept his point. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked a question that leads into the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, on who will determine at the most senior levels. It is clear that the position is reserved for the Secretary of State to make those decisions, and it will be done in his name if posts are reserved. I erred on the side of assertiveness when responding to a question from the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, at Question Time the other day, which is why I wrote to him to clarify the position, indicating that I regretted that I had not been as clear as I would have wanted to be. I asked my civil servants whether the Permanent Secretary in Northern Ireland would be a reserved position. The answer was yes, but what my team of officials meant by that was that, of course, that would fit into the category of reserved positions on which the Secretary of State would expect to make a decision, as these reserved positions clearly involve matters of intelligence and the security and welfare of the state. Can one think of a position as high as that of a Permanent Secretary in which those factors do not obtain? It is clear—this is why I wrote the letter—that the order preserves that decision for the Secretary of State.