§ Mr. Freesonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the practice of his Department with regard to the handling of confidential correspondence between senior civil servants in his Department and local authority officers; whether there are circumstances in which such correspondence is passed to opposition members of those authorities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HeseltineIt is not the Department's practice to make generally available correspondence on the right-to-buy with individual local authorities, to which I assume the right hon. Member refers, although such correspondence is not regarded as confidential. Copies may, however, be made available to Members of Parliament and others, including local authority members, who have a legitimate interest in ensuring that secure tenants are fully able to exercise their right to buy.