§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what response he has received to the consultation exercise he held on the Government's green paper, Crown Copyright in the Information Age. [43280]
§ Dr. David ClarkI am pleased to say that the consultation exercise on the Government's Green PaperCrown Copyright in the Information Age, received a good response with 70 replies drawn from a wide range of individuals and organisations. Many of the respondents praised the Green Paper for the clear and comprehensive way in which it covered the issues and options.
I am today placing in the Libraries of the House a list of those who responded together with copies of their responses received (except where the authors requested anonymity). A paper copy of the set of responses is available from HMSO, within the Cabinet Office.
The consultation exercise has been extremely valuable in identifying the requirements of the public and the information industry regarding access to government information. It also raised a number of issues which are linked to the Government's Freedom of Information initiative. I am now considering the main points arising from the consultation and how we will need to take account of them in developing an appropriate framework for accessing and disseminating official information.
The breakdown of responses by user type is as follows:
User type Quantity Percentage of total A. Private individuals 5 7 B. Business users 16 23 C. Media 3 4 D. Academic and library community 9 13 E. Legal 8 11 F. Public bodies 7 10 G. Trade and professional bodies 17 25 H. Private individuals with specialist knowledge 5 7