HL Deb 30 November 1995 vol 567 cc56-7WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Answer by Baroness Blatch of 22 November 1995 (WA 10), whether they will consider following the example set by the New Zealand Parliament in promoting wide public access to public information at competitive, fair and reasonable prices, by enacting Section 27 of the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994, which provides that no copyright exists in: (a) Bills; (b) Acts; (c) regulations; (d) bylaws; (e) parliamentary debates; (f) reports of select committees; (g) judgments of any court or tribunal; (h) reports of Royal Commissions, commissions of inquiry, ministerial inquiries or statutory inquiries; and, if not, whether they will consider introducing other effective measures to promote wide public access to such public information.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch):

The Government fully support the principle of widespread public access to parliamentary, statutory and analogous material, but believe it is neither necessary nor desirable to abolish copyright protection for Crown copyright material. Policies on access to parliamentary copyright material are, of course, a matter for the House authorities.