HC Deb 10 July 1998 vol 315 c664W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those individuals who are not hon. Members or civil servants currently serving on review bodies and task forces set up since May 1997 whose appointment was promoted or canvassed for by(a) GPC Market Access, (b) LLM, (c) GJW and (d) other professional lobbying organisations. [49783]

Mr. Rooker

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him today,Official Report, columns 641–42, by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what meetings or other contacts (i) he, (ii) his Ministers and (iii) his special advisers and officials have had with representatives of(a) GPC Market Access, (b) Lawson Lucas Mendelsohn and (c) GJW Government Relations since 1 May 1997; and what were the dates of such meetings or contacts, the names of the people involved and the subject matter of such exchanges. [49735]

Dr. John Cunningham

[holding answer 9 July 1998]: Ministers, their Special Advisers and other civil servants meet many people in the course of their work. This properly includes meetings with interest groups outside Government; indeed, one of the specific functions of Special Advisers is to liaise with such interest groups. This liaison is intended to help Ministers draw upon outside contributions—from academics, think-tanks, trade and industry associations, trade unions, lobby groups and others, as well as relevant experience from other countries—during the process of policy analysis and development. By convention it is not the practice of governments to make information on such meetings or their content publicly available—a principle reflected in the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information published in January 1997. Special advisers and other civil servants must observe the requirements of propriety: for instance, they must not provide confidential information without authorisation or allow improper influence on policy. Any breach of these requirements could be a disciplinary offence.