§ Mr. ClwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to paragraphs D1.27 and D1.28 of the Scott report, if he will list those matters relating to the work of his Department since 1979 classified as matters about which successive administrations have refused to answer. [17418]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 26 February 1996]: The Principal Clerk to the Table Office gave evidence in 1972 to a Select Committee appointed
to consider the practice and procedure in relation to Questions and Question Time",giving a list of matters about which successive Administrations have refused to answer. This list is referred to in the current edition of "Erskine May." Subjects listed under the Department of Trade and Industry are as follows:426W
- Commercial activities of the Overseas Marketing Corporation
- Trade Statistics for Scotland
- Financial support for trade fairs in the UK
- Relations between ECGD and individual exporters
- Reasons for refusal to refer mergers to monopolies Commission
- Names of complainants about companies
- Day to day matters for the English Tourist Board
- Details of defence research establishments
- Details of research contracts
- Forecasts of price movements
- Advice from Economic Planning Councils
- Details of financial assistance to individual companies
- Individual applicants for IDCs
- Details of export licenses
- Details of air miss inquiries
- Individual transactions between National Film Finance Corporation and Customers.
Some of these subjects no longer fall within the responsibilities of my Department.
On 9 November 1979, the then Secretary of State for Trade and the Under-Secretary of State for Industry stated that it was not possible to provide an exhaustive list of subjects on which they would decline to answer and that each question would be considered on its merits, Official Report, columns 365 and 338. This is still the case.