§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) on which dates in 1999 the former Secretary of State met Mr. George Simpson of GEC; if she will publish minutes of the meetings; and if she will list the attendees at those meetings; [174285]
(2) what communications (a)the former Secretary of State, (b)his representatives and (c)his advisers had with GEC in 1999 over (i) the proposed merger of BAEGEC and (ii) Govan shipyard; and if she will publish the communications; [174286]
(3) what meetings and communications (a)the former Secretary of State, (b)his representatives and (c)his advisers had with Kvaerner, their representatives or advisers over the proposed closure of the Govan shipyard in 1999; and what advice the former Secretary of State received from (i) his officials and (ii) other departments on the Office of Fair Trading report on the GEC-BAE merger; [174287]
(4) who (a)within her Department and (b)outside her Department the former Secretary of State consulted on the advice received from the Office of Fair Trading regarding the merger of BAE-GEC; [174288]
(5) what meetings took place between her Department and the taskforce chaired by Sir Gavin Laird set up by the Government to look for potential buyers for the Govan shipyard in 1999; and on what date; [174290]
(6) what meetings took place between the former Secretary of State and with Sir Gavin Laird to discuss the future of the Govan shipyard in 1999; and on what date; [174291]
(7) what the involvement was of the former Secretary of State in the negotiations over the future of Govan shipyard in 1999; [174292]
(9) what the involvement was of the former Secretary of State in informal and oral approaches made to GEC over the purchase of Govan in 1999; [174293]
(9) what meetings took place between Mr. Ed Miliband and (a)the former Secretary of State and (b)his advisers, representatives and officials in 1999 to discuss the (i) GEC-BAE merger and (ii) Govan shipyard [174294]
103W
§ Ms HewittMy officials and I have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings, under exemptions two and seven of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Information relating to internal discussion and advice is exempt from disclosure under exemption two of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Under the Fair grading Act (now repealed) the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry had the power and the responsibility to clear a merger, refer it to the Competition Commission or accept undertakings in order to remedy or prevent the adverse effects to the public interest specified in advice from the Director General of Fair Trading.
Under the Fair Trading Act there was no procedure for consultation on the contents of the Director General of Fair Trading's advice. Accordingly, no consultation was undertaken. However, the contents of the competition and national security undertakings to be sought from BAE Systems in lieu of a reference to the Competition Commission were made publicly available. The reasons for his decision to accept competition and national security undertakings in lieu of a reference are set out in his announcement of 9 September 1999. The Secretary of State also announced on 6 March 2000 the contents of the draft undertakings offered by BAE Systems, and on 28 March 2000 the final undertakings.