§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to make the procedures relating to inter-departmental communication on policy development more transparent. [54726]
§ Mr. StrawI intend to introduce a Freedom of Information Act which will apply to information held by public authorities. Information on the policy development process will be covered by the Act but, as the White Paper "Your Right to Know" made clear, this information could be withheld if disclosure would cause harm to the decision-making and policy advice processes. The Act will also exclude certain information.