§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister for the Civil Service (1), in view of the concern felt by the taxpayers in general and hon. Members in particular at the regularity with which revelations are belatedly made concerning alleged mal-administration, neglect, and loss of money 507W in cases such as that of the Crown Agents the Road Construction Report and the British Steel Corporation, whether to prevent this in the future he will introduce a Freedom of Information Act to seek to give the people the right to know on all such public matters;
(2) whether, in view of the changed circumstances resulting from the British Steel Corporation affair in addition to the report on the Crown Agents and other incidents, he will now arrange for a Freedom of Information Act to be introduced to give Members of Parliament and the British public the right to know.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisNo. In any case I would not wish to speculate on the possible impact of hypothetical legislation on the conduct of business in the public sector. The Government's policy for increasing the amount of official information made available remains as explained by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minster in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, Central (Mr. McNamara) on 26th October last.