§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Attorney-General when he plans to publish his departmental guidance on the implementation of the code of practice on access to Government information, as promised at paragraph 3(ii) of the code issued on 4 April; and what has been the cause of the delay in publishing the departmental guidance.
§ The Attorney-GeneralIn respect of the departments for which I have responsibility, the code of practice directly applies only to the Treasury Solicitors department..I have announced the intention of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office to seek voluntarily to comply with the code so far as possible, 22 March,Official Report, column 218. Internal guidance is being drawn up within the Treasury Solicitors department, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office. This will be made available once it has been finalised, in accordance with the provisions in the code of practice. In the meantime, each division of the Treasury Solicitors department, all Crown Prosecution Service offices and the Serious Fraud Office have copies of the Cabinet Office guidance on interpretation of the code, which has already been placed in the House of Commons Library.