HL Deb 23 June 1982 vol 431 cc1032-3

2.39 p.m.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as stated in the Observer of 16th May 1982, the report of the work on the closed shop commissioned by the Department of Employment, referred to in the Written Answer in the Official Report of 20th May (col. 871) has been in the department since December 1981, and whether it will be published before the last stage of the Employment Bill.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Ferrers)

My Lords, a draft report from Professor Gennard was received by the Department of Employment in February of this year. In Professor Gennard's view his report is not yet complete, nor is it in a publishable form. When it is completed, it will be published by Professor Gennard and his fellow authors.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for that reply. Can he give some assurance that the report might be available before discussion of the Employment Bill is concluded? Is it not a fact that the work was commissioned by the Department of Employment, at some cost to the taxpayer, and therefore is it not of vital importance to have the information in the report available for the discussions on the Employment Bill?

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, the undertaking which he requires because it entirely depends on when Professor Gennard completes his report. The noble Lord, Lord Underhill, would be the first to agree that it would be inappropriate for an incomplete report to be published.

Lord Harmar-Nicholls

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the Question and. Answer give the impression that parliamentary Questions are being asked as a result of a leak? Are leaks to newspapers on an unpublished, uncompleted report to form the basis of Question and Answer in either House of Parliament?

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, I understand that the Question resulted from an article which appeared. From where the author of the article received his information, it is not for me to say; nor do I know.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, is the noble Earl also aware that, in addition to this noble Lord raising the matter as a result of a press report, it was raised also as a result of a Written Answer given by the noble Earl in the Official Report on, I think, 20th May?

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, I do not think that there is any disparity or difference between the Answer that I then gave and the Answer that I have now given.

Lord Harmar-Nicholls

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the Question is quite specific? It states: … as stated in the Observer of 16th May ". The parliamentary Answer was brought in purely as ancillary to the statement which was put out in the press, obviously without any official connivance and without the report being properly approved or completed.

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, of course I always try to be as helpful as I can to the House, and if the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, asks a perfectly reasonable Question, he receives what I hope he will think is a perfectly reasonable Answer.