Preface by Sir Kevin Tebbit
I have been assisted in this review by Liam Laurence
Smyth, Clerk of the Overseas Office, Catherine Fogarty, Deputy
Editor (Committees) of the Official Report, and Martin Trott,
Executive Officer to the Serjeant at Arms. The team has also received
typing assistance from Lynda Young from the office of the Director
of Broadcasting. My own thanks go to them for outstanding support
at all times, including dedicated professionalism over issues
where we may not all have agreed at all times.
It has been an honour and privilege to work with
them and with the officials of the House as a whole who do so
much to sustain our Parliamentary institution and serve our Members
of Parliament with distinction.
Both I and my colleagues are very grateful to all
the Members and officials who gave their time to meet the Review
team. What we have learned from them is reflected in this report,
but it would be invidious to supply references to conversations,
many of which were conducted with great frankness. Public disclosure
of any notes of those conversations would in our judgement be
likely to inhibit the free and frank exchange of views and would
be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.
What follows is, at times, critical of aspects of
the organisation and the way it works. But this is inevitable
in a review of this kind and it should be seen in the context
of admiration for the work of all those interviewed during the
course of this review.
If there are any errors of fact, or interpretation,
they are my own responsibility, as are the judgements and recommendations
which follow.
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