HC Deb 17 April 1996 vol 275 cc497-8W
Mr. Byers

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office Eyes" are currently held by his Department. [24858]

Mrs. Angela Knight

There are 385 files. in the Treasury, out of a total of 191,420, marked "Not to be seen by NAO without reference to the appropriate Head of Division".

These figures refer to individual jackets and parts of files. For each NAO study, several divisions in different locations may be involved and each may possess a file with a number of parts. The marking "Not for NAO Eyes" is used in accordance with an agreement between the Treasury and the NAO under which documents relating to the handling of relations between Departments and the NAO and Public Accounts Committee are not automatically available to the NAO while they are current.