§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if(a) he, (b) civil servants in his Department or (c) special advisers in his Department have (i) had sight of drafts of select committee reports, in whole or in part, or (ii) been informed of conclusions of select committee reports prior to their publication by the select committees. [75881]
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if(a) ministers, (b) parliamentary private secretaries, (c) special advisers and (d) civil servants have discussed the contents of the Committee's reports with any members of the Social Security Committee prior to their publication; [75841]
(2) if (a) ministers, (b) parliamentary private secretaries, (c) special advisers and (d) civil servants in his Department have received copies of any Social Security Select Committee (i) draft reports and (ii) reports prior to their publication. [75840]
§ Mr. DarlingI refer the right hon. and hon. Members to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 1 March 1999,Official Report, column 531. There have been no instances of members of Select 251W Committees giving me, or my Ministerial colleagues, drafts of Select Committee reports, or parts of reports including their conclusions, before publication. Nor to the best of my knowledge have there been any occasions on which members of Select Committees have given such material to civil servants or special advisers in this Department. This excludes embargoed copies of reports issued under House of Commons Standing Orders.