§ Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the projects undertaken by his Department since 1 May 1997 to research public reaction to(a) Government policies and (b) potential new policies; and if he will place the results of the research in the Library.[46684]
§ Mr. Straw[holding answer 30 June 1998]: In line with the practice of successive administrations, the Department routinely consults the public, interested parties and client groups by way of consultation papers and research projects on a wide range of policies and proposed legislation. It is our normal practice to make the results of such research available to the public, including placing copies in the Library.
I would refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister of State gave the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 23 February 1998, Official Report, column 307. There is one additional item to add to this list: a study of voter opinion on the possibility of introducing a Belgian style electoral system for elections to the European Parliament. The results from this research were placed in the Library on 2 March.