Freedom of Information (Hansard, 4 March 1998)

§ 1. Miss Melanie Johnson
What responses he has received to his White Paper on freedom of information. [30864]

§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Dr. David Clark)
rose—

Hon. Members
Where are the Tories?

§ Madam Speaker
Order.

§ Dr. Clark
It is nice to see at least one Conservative Back Bencher coming into the Chamber. I welcome him.
The freedom of information White Paper, "Your Right to Know", has excited a massive response at home and abroad. I have received more than 500 responses so far from individuals and organisations, and the numbers are increasing day by day.

§ Miss Johnson
I thank my right hon. Friend for his response and for the very full consultation on the much-welcomed White Paper. What is the timetable for the proposed draft Bill, which will be one of the first Bills to go through the new pre-legislative Select Committee procedure? I am sure that the Select Committee would like to receive the Bill in early June so that it can carry out much of the necessary scrutiny before the summer recess.

§ Dr. Clark
The consultation period has just ended and we are carefully considering the responses. However, as parts of the Bill are non-controversial, the information on those parts has already been sent to the parliamentary draftsmen, in the hope that we can ensure that the Bill is ready by early summer. It can then go before the Select Committee, which may be able to complete its consideration in time for the Bill to be included in the Queen's Speech.

§ Sir Patrick Cormack
Among the many responses that the right hon. Gentleman has received, is there one from the senior official to whom he entrusted the leak inquiry? Will he tell us what has been discovered, if anything—and in telling us that, will he also say how many copies of the White Paper were legitimately circulating within Whitehall at the time of the leak?

§ Dr. Clark
The preliminary leak inquiry has been carried out and I have seen the report. It concluded that too many copies were distributed to enable the inquiry to ascertain where the leak came from. The information 1040 gained in the inquiry has been passed to the Cabinet Secretary, with suggestions about how to minimise circulation and reduce the potential for leaks.

§ Sir Patrick Cormack
The right hon. Gentleman said that many copies were circulating; could he say precisely how many?

§ Dr. Clark
Three drafts of the White Paper were in circulation. I cannot be absolutely precise, but I understand that the number was in three figures.

§ 2. Mr. Baker
What steps he has taken to ensure that new initiatives in the operation of central Government comply with his proposed freedom of information legislation. [30865]

§ Dr. David Clark
Last month, I published substantial background information on the White Paper "Your Right to Know", to exemplify our freedom of information commitment to active disclosure.

§ Mr. Baker
I have no doubt of the Minister's, or the Government's, commitment to freedom of information. However, may I ask the Minister to investigate the compatibility with freedom of information legislation of the strategic communications unit that has been established by the Prime Minister? Is the Minister aware that the Prime Minister refused to provide detailed answers to questions on the strategic communications unit tabled by me and by other hon. Members? Is he aware also that the unit seems to be operating in a manner that restricts Departments in issuing press releases, that it is acting as a filter, and that it is therefore contrary to the principle of freedom of information?

§ Dr. Clark
Currently, we operate under a code, which obviously does not have statutory authority. We believe that the code is inadequate, which is why we require further legislation. The strategic communications unit is a means of ensuring that information circulates in Whitehall, helping us to ensure good government. That is its purpose.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
Will my right hon. Friend examine the mechanics of the distribution of information technology, particularly in Departments? There are very real worries that some of the systems that are currently operating, and some of the new ones that are supposed to be introduced into Departments, will not be capable of carrying the information or providing the access that he and I definitely want them to.

§ Dr. Clark
One of the unfortunate legacies that we inherited 10 months ago was the chaos in IT within government. Some Departments cannot speak electronically to other Departments. We plan to enhance the CabEnet system. I hope also that, before too long, we will have a secure intranet through which Government information can be passed electronically. It is ludicrous that, in this modern day, we have been left with a ramshackle machine in which Ministers cannot e-mail fellow Ministers.