§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken following reports to him that a civil servant in his Department has been passing classified material to a Czechoslovakian military attaché when he was first informed of the civil servant's conduct; and if he will make a statement on security standards in his Department and the monitoring requirements at all levels handling classified material with reference to this case in particular.
§ Mr. Paul ChannonThe official concerned has been suspended from duty while police investigations are carried out. I was first informed of allegations relating to this official late on the evening of 12 April 1986.
Security arrangements in my Department are in accordance with the standards and procedures laid down for all Government Departments. All staff are informed of the Department's security procedures including those which apply to the protection, transmission, storage and copying of classified material. The conduct of staff in these respects, as in other matters, is supervised by line management.