§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the consultation documents issued by his Department in each of the last four years; what the cost was of producing each of these; how many documents were issued in each consultation; and how many responses were received in each consultation. [124567]
§ Mr. IngramThe Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation applies to all formal national public consultation documents issued by Departments from 1 January 2001 and the information requested before that date is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Since 1 January 2001, the Ministry of Defence has issued seven formal national public consultation documents. They are:
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Title Additional cost 5 Proposed Introduction of the Voluntary Screening Programme following Health Concerns in Respect of Depleted Uranium No additional cost 6 The Second Consultation Document on the Introduction of a Voluntary Screening Programme for Depleted Uranium No additional cost 7 Future of the Defence Diversification Agency No additional cost The table identifies additional costs of producing the consultative documents. It does not include costs of the personnel who produced the documents.
Title Number issues Number of respondents The Military Maritime Graves and the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 Over 300 78 replies were received Armed Forces Pension Scheme Review 1,500 Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) Review and Joint Compensation Review 203 responses were received in total, with some respondents comments on both the Joint Compensation Review (JCR) consultation documents were issued. 20,000 leaflets were also distributed to serving members of the armed forces AFPS and JCR Ministry of Defence Police Quinquennial Review Widely publicised by PG, announcement in Government Opportunities and on MOD Web Responses were received from all those who were specifically targeted. The Ministry of Defence also received a written response from a member of the public Proposed Introduction of the Voluntary Screening Programme following Health Concerns in Respect of Depleted Uranium 38 documents were issued 37 replies were received The Second Consultation Document on the Introduction of a Voluntary Screening Programme for Depleted Uranium No record available 20 replies were received Future of the Defence Diversification Agency 78 documents were issued 21 replies were received This list does not include reports and other working papers that have been put in the public domain for comment, but which are not put out for formal consultation within the terms of the Code of Practice (e.g. SDR New Chapter public discussion document).
The Government recommend that policy development should be done in close consultation with stakeholders. Formal consultation documents are only one part of this process, which includes:
- Stakeholder meetings
- Listening events/public meetings
- Web forums
- Public surveys
- Focus groups
- Regional events
- Free phone and freepost surveys and events
- Targeted leaflet campaigns
- Road shows and exhibitions
Further information on these public consultations can be found on the Internet under http://www.mod.uk/consultations.