§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth (East Surrey)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. You may be aware that today the Government published a sports strategy, an event to which they appear to attach some importance. There has been some difficulty in supplying copies of the strategy to hon. Members who were seeking them this morning, having heard all about the strategy from the Minister for Sport who was talking on the radio this morning and also writing in the national press. Would it not have been more appropriate, not to say more courteous, if the strategy had been announced here first?
§ Madam SpeakerI, too, heard the Minister early this morning on the radio. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his point of order. I have investigated the circumstances behind his complaint. I understand that Ministers launched the sports strategy to the press at 9.45 this morning. There was no parallel announcement in Parliament, and the document concerned was not generally available in the Vote Office until much later this morning. This is a clear breach of the conventions that apply to announcements of this sort, and it is totally unacceptable to me and to the House.
It seems to me that there is a situation developing in some Departments in which the interest of Parliament is regarded as secondary to media presentation, or is overlooked altogether. I hope that Ministers will set in hand a review of procedures right across Whitehall to ensure that the events that took place this morning are never allowed to occur again.
§ The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey)Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. I thank the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) for raising this point of order. On behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, I apologise for the administrative error that took place in not ensuring that the document was here this morning for hon. Members. I appreciate that this was not done correctly. However, I hope that what I said on the radio this morning did not go into the detail of the paper in any way.
I accept what you have said, Madam Speaker. I believe that the House has been treated discourteously. That point will be made to my Department, and I apologise unreservedly on its behalf.