§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will now declassify the Turton report on the Crown Suppliers; and if he will place a copy of the report in the Library;
(2) what criteria are used for classifying Government documents; and how these were applied in the case of the Turton report on the Crown Suppliers.
§ Mr. ChopeGovernment documents are given a security classification if unauthorised disclosure would damage the interests of the nation. The Cabinet Office review team's report of September 1985 on the future of the Crown Suppliers was not classified. It did, however, contain commercially sensitive information and other sensitive material given to the review team in confidence. The trade unions were consulted on the report, excluding only such sensitive material, in December 1985. It is not usual for officials' advice to Ministers to be disclosed. I, therefore, see no reason to change the decision taken by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton (Sir G. Young) not to publish it more widely; nor do I propose to place a copy in the Library.