HL Deb 18 July 2003 vol 651 c195WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

As regards the investigation by the ombudsman into complaint A33/02 (under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information) concerning the denial of information about the development of policy leading up to the Human Rights Act 1998, what were the reasons for the issue of a certificate by the Cabinet Secretary under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 preventing the ombudsman having access to the information in suitably redacted form relating references to the views of particular Ministers or of Ministers collectively, so as to enable the ombudsman to complete her investigation into the complaint. [HL3936]

Lord Filkin

The certificate was issued to protect the confidentiality of the Cabinet process. Section 8(4) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 explicitly recognises this.