§ Ms LynneTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on what occasions since April 1992 Ministers from his Department have(a) requested Parliamentary counsel to assist in preparing amendments to private Members' Bills on behalf of other private Members and (b) authorised officials to instruct Parliamentary Counsel to prepare amendments which were subsequently passed to private Members.
§ Mr. WaldegraveParliamentary Counsel draft not on behalf of private Members but on the instructions of Departments acting on the authority of Ministers. No amendments were drafted since April 1992 by parliamentary counsel on instructions from my Department. However, some of the amendments tabled during the Committee and Report stages of the Right to Know Bill were prepared by my officials with advice from Parliamentary Counsel.