asked the Minister for the Environment if professional staff who are employed in his Department and in local authorities are allowed to undertake private work; and if he will give details of cases brought to his attention in 1983.
Written Answers. - Professional Private Work.
237.
Professional staff employed in my Department are wholetime officials and are not allowed to engage in private practice. Allegations that two professional officers of my Department had engaged in private practice were brought to my attention in 1983 and are being investigated.
The vast majority of local authority professional staff are also wholetime. Rules of conduct for local authority officers and a conciliation agreement embodying the 1978 Engineers' Working Party Report specifically prohibit wholetime local authority professional officers from undertaking private work. Any such cases would be primarily a matter for the local authority concerned.