Select Committee on Procedure Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence


Annex A

Guidance to Officials on Drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions

  1.  Never forget Ministers' obligations to Parliament which are set out in the Ministerial Code:

    "It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister.

    Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government Information."

  2.  It is a civil servant's responsibility to Ministers to help them fulfil those obligations. It is the Minister's right and responsiblity to decide how to do so. Ministers want to explain and present Government policy and actions in a positive light. They will rightly expect a draft answer that does full justice to the Government's position.

  3.  Approach every question predisposed to give relevent information fully, as concisely as possible and in accordance with guidance on disproportionate cost. If there appears to be a conflict between the requirement to be as open as possible and the requirement to protect information whose disclosure would not be in the public interest, you should check to see whether it should be omitted in accordance with statute (which takes precedence) or the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, about which you should consult your departmental openness liaison officer if necessary.

  4.  Where information is being refused on the grounds of disproportionate cost, there should be a presumption that any of the requested information which is readily available should be provided.

  5.  Do not omit information sought merely because disclosure could lead to political embarrassment or administration inconvenience.

  6.  Where there is a particularly fine balance between openness and non-disclosure, and when the draft answer takes the latter course, this should be explicitly drawn to the Minister's attention. Similarly, if it is proposed to reveal information of a sort which is not normally disclosed, this should be explicitly drawn to Ministers' attention.

  7.  If you conclude that material information must be withheld and the PQ cannot be fully answered as a result, draft an answer which makes this clear and which explains the reasons in equivalent terms to those in the Code of Practice, or because of disproportionate cost or the information not being available. Take care to avoid draft answers which are literally true but likely to give rise to misleading inferences.


 
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Prepared 26 June 2002