HC Deb 09 July 1986 vol 101 cc196-7W
Mr. Tony Lloyd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the mechanism for members of the Food Advisory Committee who wish to receive permission to disclose information received in the course of their duties which is not otherwise to be disclosed; to whom applications for permission are to be made; and on how many occasions in each of the last five years such permission has been (a) sought and (b) granted;

(2) what is his policy towards instances of unauthorised disclosure of information by members of the Food Advisory Committee; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Fenner

Members of the Food Advisory Committee who wished to disclose information received in the course of their work for the committee would seek authority from the committee's administrative secretary. No such authority has been sought in the past five years. In the unlikely event of an unauthorised disclosure I would expect to deal with this by a disciplinary procedure.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he uses the Official Secrets Act as the basis for securing the commercial confidentiality of commercially sensitive information submitted to the Food Advisory Committee; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Fenner

Members of the Food Advisory Committee are told on appointment that where appropriate they must observe the confidentiality of information passed to them as part of their duties on that committee. It is the Official Secrets Act that makes it an offence to disclose such information without authority.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in discussions with the British Library to ensure that all information submitted to the Food Advisory Committee relating to safety is placed there; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Fenner

Agreement has been reached with the British Library for the placing there of toxicological data which are cited in the published reports of the committee on toxicity of chemicals in food consumer products and the environment and which are included in reports of the Food Advisory Committee. My officials are in the process of writing to organisations about this.

Mr. Tony Lloyd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current composition of the Food Advisory Committee; and if he will give the background and source of nomination of each member.

Mrs. Fenner

A copy of my Department's press notice No. 318 of 8 November 1985 which contains details of the current membership of the Food Advisory Committee has been placed in the Library of the House. The members of the committee were appointed personally in the light of their individual expertise; they were not appointed on the basis of nomination from particular organisations.