§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make a statement concerning the availability to hon. Members of the report on the Marchioness disaster, published on 15 August; and what action he has taken, or intends to take, to ensure that documents of similar importance are available to hon. Members immediately following their publication.
§ Mr. MacGregor[holding answer 14 October 1991]; There are no set guidelines covering the availability of non-command documents to hon. Members; it is up to Departments themselves to decide which documents they wish to deposit in the House.
As regards the report on the Marchioness disaster, I understand no copies were deposited in the Vote Office, but some copies were available in the Library.
Hon. Members can of course also order publications on "green form" basis from HMSO.