§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she plans to publish her departmental guidance on the implementation of the code of practice on access to Government information, as promised at paragraph 3(ii) of the code issued on 4 April; and what has been the cause of the delay in publishing the departmental guidance.
§ Mr. JackCopies of the Department's explanatory note on the implementation of the code of practice have been made available on request to the Ministry's helpline and a copy of the note has been placed in the Library of the440W House. Details were announced in a news release on 5 April. We are now working on making available, under the terms of the code at paragraph 3(ii), explanatory material on our dealings with the public subject to the provisions of confidentiality under part H of the code. The code envisages that this material is made available, as soon as practicable. There is a very substantial amount of material, covering all facets of the Ministry's schemes and procedures. We hope to make good progress by the end of the year.