§ Dr. LadymanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the operation of the confidentiality agreement between his Department and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection in relation to offences committed under the Protection of Animals Act 1911. [117710]
602W
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe main provisions of the confidentiality agreement stipulated that the material it covered should not be disclosed to anyone other than Home Office Ministers and officials without the prior written approval of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV). I am advised that these provisions would have been unenforceable in law should any attempt have been made to use the agreement to suppress evidence of criminal offences or prevent its disclosure to the police authorities or Crown Prosecution Service.
The confidentiality agreement was entered into in July 1999 in order to obtain information to enable a full Home Office investigation of the allegations made by the BUAV against HarlandUK. I do not consider that it set a helpful precedent. The most careful consideration would be necessary before an agreement of this nature could be entered into again should similar circumstances arise in the future.
Although in evidence in the consultation on Freedom of Information, they made representations that the Home Office should have a presumption against enforcing such an agreement, the BUAV requested such an agreement in connection with this case.