§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office Eyes" are currently held by his Department. [24859]
§ Mr. NorrisThere are 119 files in the Department of Transport, out of a total, 1,169,731, marked "Not to be seen by NAO without reference to the appropriate Head of Division", sometimes abbreviated to "Not for NAO Eyes". These figures refer to individual jackets —file parts. For each study, a number of divisions 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 National Audit Office, 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.