APPENDIX IV
Letter from the Chairman to the Secretary
of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Access to Information
During their meeting together last Thursday,
the Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Trade
and Industry Committees considered the Government's response (Cm
5141) to the Committees' most recent Report.
Members of all Committees were disturbed by
the line of argument taken in response to the Committee's recommendations
b (paragraph 25), m (paragraph 88) and t (paragraph 123). In each
case, the Government implies that the Code of Practice on Access
to Government Information applies to information provided in confidence
to select committees. In response to recommendation t, the Government
states that this interpretation of the Code of Practice is buttressed
by Cabinet Office guidance, "Departmental Evidence and Response
to Select Committees".
The Government appears to have missed a crucial
distinction. The Code of Practice clearly applies to evidence
provided to select committees through memoranda or in public session,
where the expectation is that the evidence will enter the public
domain. But it does not apply to information requested by Committees
which the Government provides in confidence. This distinction
is made clear in the Cabinet Office guidance to which the government
refers:
"Information which is judged not disclosable
under the terms of the Code and which properly carries a protective
security marking should not be disclosed without further authority
in open evidence sessions or in memoranda submitted for publication.
There are, however, procedures under which Select Committees can
in certain circumstances be provided with such information on
a confidential basis." (paragraph 64)
"It is to the benefit of Committees in carrying
out their task of scrutinising Government activities, and to Government
in explaining its actions and policies, for sensitive information,
including that carrying a protective security marking, to be provided
from time to time on the basis that it will not be published and
will be treated in confidence. Procedures have been developed
to accommodate this." (paragraph 80)
This distinction is vital to the proper operation
of select committees. The Quadripartite Committee in particular
is only able to carry out its retrospective scrutiny of Government
export licensing policy because it is granted access to sensitive
and classified information, access to which would properly be
denied under the terms of the Code of Practice on Access to Government
Information.
I would be grateful for an assurance that the
Code of Practice on Access to Government Information will not
be treated as relevant to the provision of information in confidence
to select committees, and would also ask that the Government revisit
its response to the recommendations mentioned above.
18 November 2002
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