11 Public inquiries
60. Public inquiries have been a topic of interest
to this Committee for many years. During the 2010-2015 Parliament
we have followed the slow progress of the Cabinet Office-funded
Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot with interest. We have
raised with Ministers and officials our disappointment at the
continued failure to publish Sir John's report.[74]
We also raised our concerns in writing, asking the Minister for
the Cabinet Office, the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP in May 2014, to
outline the reasons for the delay and to tell us what steps he
was taking to overcome barriers to publication.[75]
Later in May, Sir John announced that agreement had been reached
on the principles that will underpin disclosure of material from
Cabinet-level discussions and communications between the Prime
Minister and the President of the United States.[76]
Francis Maude told us the letter was "helpful in bringing
to a head the issues that need to be resolved."[77]
74 Oral evidence: Civil Service impartiality and referendums,
HC 111, June 2014, and oral evidence: The Work of the Cabinet Secretary and the Head of the Civil Service,
HC 181, September 2014 Back
75
Letter from Bernard Jenkin MP to Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister
for the Cabinet Office, 8 May 2014 Back
76
The Iraq Inquiry, Letter from Sir John Chilcot to Sir Jeremy Heywood,
28 May 2014 Back
77
Oral evidence: Civil Service impartiality and referendums, HC
111, 11 June 2014, Q 488 Back
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