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Lord Phillips of Sudbury: My noble friend Lord Redesdale and I tabled Amendments Nos. 48 and 41 which are in this group. My noble friend, however, has had to hurry off to the bedside of his very expectant spouse. I think that that demonstrates the relevance of the report having to be laid within nine months. I am also afraid that our two amendments make a rather wimpish pair compared with the much more rigorous and vigorous amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, which provide for a three-month period. Amendment No. 37, too, is a good deal more brisk than our foppish amendments. I shall therefore retreat behind those of the Official Opposition.
Lord Judd: Before my noble friend the Minister replies, may I assure him that many of us are very satisfied with the current situation and would regard any retreat from covering temporary licences as a blow to transparency? Of course temporary licences should be covered; they may be temporary, but they are real and should be subject to scrutiny. More importantly, temporary licences give an indication of trends, enabling the discussion on whether the trend is right or wrong to be opened up considerably. They are therefore very important to the cause of transparency. I hope that my noble friend the Minister will not be swayed by this amendment.
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: These grouped amendments seek to clarify and make statutory provision for the content and timing of publication of the annual reports on cultural and strategic exports. The annual reports on strategic export controls each cover a calendar year, and we intend to continue this practice under the Bill. However, the Government do not feel that it is necessary or appropriate to specify in primary legislation that reports should be published in respect of each calendar year.
As for the speed of publication of the annual reports, the Government are committed to publishing the annual report on strategic exports as soon as possible after the year to which it refers. The 1999 and
2000 annual reports were published on 21st July 2000 and 20th July 2001 respectively, well within the nine month target proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, and the noble Lord, Lord Phillips. In this case pregnancy was somewhat shorter. However, the annual reports came to 350 pages—that is the size of a small baby. Therefore, those who produced the reports did well to do so within the time that they did. The 1999 and 2000 annual reports each weighed in at around 350 pages, the bulk of which consisted of tables showing types and numbers of licences granted. That was a reasonable performance.Following introduction of the new controls on trafficking and brokering and technical assistance, yet more information will need to be collected and processed. With such a large and complex body of data there is always the possibility that problems occur in compiling it, or that anomalies are found that need to be resolved before publication. A legal obligation to publish a report within a certain time limit could risk forcing the Government to publish misleading or incomplete data. That would not be helpful to those, like the Quadripartite Committee, who may wish to scrutinise the reports.
Nevertheless, the Bill will require the Government to publish the annual reports as soon as practicable. That means that the Government cannot deliberately delay the publication of either annual report. Moreover, I can assure the Committee that the Government already endeavour to publish the annual report as soon as possible after the end of the year to which it refers.
Amendment No. 37 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and the noble Lord, Lord Rotherwick, seeks to require the Government to publish information in the annual report relating to the time taken to process licence applications and to prohibit the Government from including in the annual report any details of temporary export licences.
The annual report on strategic export controls already incorporates details of the Export Control Organisation's performance in processing licence applications. This data includes the percentage of applications processed within the target time of 20 working days as well as a breakdown of the performance of the main government departments involved in the export licensing process. The Government have noted the suggestion through this proposed amendment that this section of the report could be more detailed. Although we do not feel that it is appropriate for the detailed content of the annual report to be set out in primary legislation, we shall be looking at whether the section of the annual report on licensing performance could be made more extensive.
The amendment also proposes that temporary export licences be excluded from the annual report. The Government are proud of the fact that the annual reports have become progressively more informative over the past few years. To exclude temporary licences from those detailed in the report would be to take a step backwards from the increasing transparency and accountability to which we are committed. We believe
it is important that export licensing policy and practice should be open to retrospective scrutiny, including in the area of issuing temporary export licences. As I say, to exclude temporary licences would be to take a step backwards. There is already in the annual reports all the information people need to hold the Government to account.The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, raised a number of extremely important points on the cultural report. I am afraid that I cannot answer those at the moment but I shall write to her in detail. In view of the assurances and arguments I have given, I hope that the amendment will be withdrawn.
10.45 p.m.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns: I am grateful for that careful reply. I appreciate the Minister's difficulty. Although in this Chamber all Ministers are expected to answer for all departments, such virtuosity cannot be expected on every single occasion. I am grateful for the Minister's offer to write to me with the details of the operation of the reporting system with regard to the cultural report. It would be interesting to know about the procedure under which Parliament will be able to hold Ministers to account and whether it is a matter of the relevant Secretary of State making a statement to the Chamber or whether it is simply a matter of a document being laid. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
[Amendments Nos. 37 to 41 not moved.]
Lord Phillips of Sudbury moved Amendment No. 42:
- After Clause 9, insert the following new clause—
The noble Lord said: The amendment stands also in the name of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester. It deals with an important and sensitive issue; namely, whether a system of prior scrutiny of some of the more sensitive and important licences should be part of the licensing process. We understand that it is a highly contentious matter. It has been trailed by the reports of the Quadripartite Committee. It had meetings with the then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook. The Government have responded to its first report. It issued a further report in July last year to which there has not been a government response.
The reason that the supporters of the amendment believe it important that the Government consider it favourably is because the licensing of arms is of the greatest public and often international importance. It has led us into deep waters in recent years. Far from prior scrutiny by a parliamentary committee obfuscating, obstructing or delaying the licensing process, we believe that the measure would be a valuable addition to the scrutiny process. It is vital to
Amendments Nos. 56 and 83 are grouped with Amendment No. 42. The noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, has put in place detailed provisions as to how the measure might work as regards the constitution of the relevant committee, its powers and so on.
On this side of the Chamber, we believe that to give the Secretary of State the power to take advice from a parliamentary Select Committee in cases he or she considers appropriate—they will be cases of great importance and/or sensitivity—will be of great benefit to all concerned. At Second Reading, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott, expressed the fear that the measure could legally encumber the process and cause embarrassment. That fear is avoided by the fact that the committee consulted by the Secretary of State would merely give advice. There is no constitutional problem if the measure is confined to giving advice.
There is concern about the balance of power between Parliament and the executive. It is traditional for Parliament always to scrutinise the activities of the executive in retrospect. However, I believe—the right reverend Prelate will speak for himself—that this is one case where public interest will be well served if the Secretary of State has that right. Sweden has a prior scrutinising system. America has one. The objections voiced by the Government are that the provision could affect the competitiveness of British industry, the efficiency and effectiveness of the process, could breach confidentiality and so on. Those objections can be dealt with perfectly satisfactorily. We hope that the Government will look with approbation upon the amendment.
"PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE
As part of the licence application process required by an order under section 1, 2, 3 or 4, the Secretary of State may take advice from a Parliamentary Select Committee."
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