§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his answer of 25 May 2000,Official Report, column 581W, on opinion research, what steps have been taken to ensure that his Department makes such results publicly available as required by paragraph 19 of the Cabinet Office May 1999 Guidelines on Research into Public Attitudes and Opinions. [124903]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthOfficials in the Department and its agencies and staff in our NDPBs are aware of their obligations under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, to which paragraph 19 of the Cabinet Office Guidelines refers, and I expect them to ensure that the Code of Practice is followed. A senior official in my Department wrote to all chief executives of DCMS NDPBs on 10 December 1999, drawing their attention to the publication of the Freedom of Information Bill and reminding them of the need to comply, until a Freedom of Information Act is brought into force, with the Code of Practice.