Unauthorised Disclosure of Heads of Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee - Standards and Privileges Committee Contents


Letter from Mr Tom Smith, Parliamentary Researcher for Mr Adrian Sanders MP to the Clerk of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, 13 May 2009

  Thank you for your letter of 12 May. I shall be able to attend the Committee session and I would be very grateful if the following could be taken into consideration by the Committee.

  I understand that Steve Lotinga, policy advisor for the Liberal Democrats, has admitted disclosing details of the DCMS Committee's Heads of Report to journalists.

  I acknowledge that I passed an original copy of this report to Alice Aitken, researcher to Don Foster MP, in January. I understand that this document, while differing from the document referred to in your earlier enquiry, is the source of the leak.

  It has, in the past, been the practice that I seek advice from Ms Aitken on DCMS Committee matters and this practice involves forwarding in electronic form the committee briefing notes to her on occasion. The Heads of Report issued in January was included with a bundle of other documents from DCMS Committee clerks and I can only apologise for the oversight in not removing this document from my email to Ms Aitken. I know of no other instance where I have forwarded such a document.



 
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