Code of Practice on Access to Government Information

HL Deb 18 January 2002 vol 630 c181WA

Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are their reasons for refusing to accept:

(a) the finding by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Case No. A28/01) that there was no valid reason under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for the then Home Secretary to have refused to disclose the number of times Ministers in his Department had made a declaration of interest to colleagues under the Ministerial Code; and

(b) the Parliamentary Commissioner's recommendation that this information should be released; and [HL2216]

Whether their refusal to accept:

(a) the finding by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Case No. A28/01) that there was no valid reason under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for the then Home Secretary to have refused to disclose the number of times Ministers in his department had made a declaration of interest to colleagues under the Ministerial Code; and

(b) the Parliamentary Commissioner's recommendation that this information should be released, is in breach of a general principle of fair administration that no one should be judged in his own cause; and, if not, why not. [HL2217]

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston)

The Government's position is set out in the report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration onAccess to Official Information: Declarations made under the Ministerial Code of Conduct.