§ Mr. CohenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all those in his Department who have authority to issue public interest immunity certificates; how many such certificates have been issued in each of the last five years; and what were the main reasons for them. [1395]
§ Mr. LangA claim to public interest immunity relating to departmental documents or information is normally made by the appropriate Minister.
My Department's records show that, since April 1992, 22 public interest immunity certificates have been signed by Ministers of this Department, five of which did not need to be deployed. The annual breakdown is as follows:
- 1992: 4 (from April)
- 1993: 8
- 1994: 6
- 1995: 4 (to date)
No central record is kept of certificates issued before April 1992.
The certificates were issued to protect a range of classes of information, in particular the formulation of Government policy, the internal dealings of Government Departments, the operation of the Security and Intelligence Services, and confidential information and advice obtained in connection with the Department's regulatory or statutory functions.