§ 4. Mr. MacLARENasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, with regard to the private and confidential documents which are issued by him to members of committees of inquiry, acting under the Safeguarding of Industries Act, it is by his authority that members of such committees read extracts from these documents in reply to questions which may be raised during an inquiry?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERIt has come to my notice that in one ease, in reply to a request by a committee to be 1878 furnished with any relevant information in the possession of the Board of Trade, the information supplied included a confidential document. The hon. Member will appreciate that information of value to industry in this country is not infrequently obtained from confidential sources, and must, obviously, be treated in a confidential manner. I have, however, given instructions that no documents are to be given to committees, under the Safeguarding procedure, unless these documents can properly be disclosed to all parties concerned.
§ Colonel WEDGWOOD BENNDoes not the right hon. Gentleman see that the whole basis of these committees, as committees making judicial inquiries, is shattered if their judgment is to be affected by confidential information?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThat is the point, that they are judicial inquiries, and I have given instructions that the committees are not to receive any information which cannot be disclosed.
§ Mr. MacLARENWill the right hon. Gentleman give instructions that if the parties in question ask to be allowed to see this document, they will be permitted to do so, seeing that it has been submitted as evidence?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI think that suggestion is a very reasonable one, and I have already given instructions that if the committee regard any confidential information pot to them as relevant to an inquiry, it should he communicated to the parties, subject, of course, to this, that, for the reasons I have given, the confidential information cannot be broadcast, and that any such information should he treated by the parties concerned exactly as confidential evidence is treated at any such inquiry.
§ Mr. HARDIEMay I ask why it was that only one member of the committee was supplied with the document concerned?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThat is not so. I understand the whole of the Committee were supplied with the information. [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] When my attention was called to this, I went into the matter with some care, and it is my information that the document was supplied to the Committee.
§ Mr. MacLARENIs the Minister aware that it was a member of the Committee who raised the question, and that he himself was not in possession of the document in question?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI am quite clear on the point, because I made careful inquiries. The Committee had a mass of information which included certain confidential information, which was certainly supplied to the Committee as such.
§ Mr. MacLARENIn view of the unsatisfactory position which is made evident by the answer to this question, I beg to give notice that I will raise this question on the adjournment.