By David Williams
22 October 2009
Education Secretary Ed Balls has hit back at MPs who tried to block his choice of a children’s commissioner, telling them they have no veto over major appointments.
Balls told the children, schools and families select committee that only in ‘exceptional circumstances’ could their objections lead to a preferred candidate being rejected.
In a hearing on October 21, committee chair Barry Sheerman pointed out that the hearings had been introduced earlier this year by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a ‘keystone of renewing our parliamentary powers’.
He asked: ‘Are these hearings, that we had high hopes for, meaningful? Is it a bit of a charade and a sham?’
Balls recognised the committee’s role to raise questions, but maintained that the right to judge whether they were sufficient grounds to overturn an appointment remained with him.
He said he had thought hard about their recommendations, but told the committee: ‘What we don’t have is a system where there’s a veto.’
The row began on October 19 when the committee refused to endorse the appointment of Maggie Atkinson as children’s commissioner, feeling she was not independent enough of the government.
But Balls ignored the advice and immediately announced his intention to press on with the appointment. Sheerman responded by calling Balls ‘a bit of a bully who likes his own way’.
At the hearing, Sheerman also questioned whether Balls should have dismissed the committee’s concerns immediately, as the role does not begin until February.
Balls defended the move, saying the debate that followed could have been ‘massively unfair and damaging to the role’. He pointed out that Atkinson had been appointed by an independent panel.
22 October 2009
Education Secretary Ed Balls has hit back at MPs who tried to block his choice of a children’s commissioner, telling them they have no veto over major appointments.
Balls told the children, schools and families select committee that only in ‘exceptional circumstances’ could their objections lead to a preferred candidate being rejected.
In a hearing on October 21, committee chair Barry Sheerman pointed out that the hearings had been introduced earlier this year by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a ‘keystone of renewing our parliamentary powers’.
He asked: ‘Are these hearings, that we had high hopes for, meaningful? Is it a bit of a charade and a sham?’
Balls recognised the committee’s role to raise questions, but maintained that the right to judge whether they were sufficient grounds to overturn an appointment remained with him.
He said he had thought hard about their recommendations, but told the committee: ‘What we don’t have is a system where there’s a veto.’
The row began on October 19 when the committee refused to endorse the appointment of Maggie Atkinson as children’s commissioner, feeling she was not independent enough of the government.
But Balls ignored the advice and immediately announced his intention to press on with the appointment. Sheerman responded by calling Balls ‘a bit of a bully who likes his own way’.
At the hearing, Sheerman also questioned whether Balls should have dismissed the committee’s concerns immediately, as the role does not begin until February.
Balls defended the move, saying the debate that followed could have been ‘massively unfair and damaging to the role’. He pointed out that Atkinson had been appointed by an independent panel.
