Dr. Tony WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as of 1 April 1999, which of the executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department(a) were required to publish annual reports, (b) were required to publish annual accounts, (c) were subject to a full audit by the National Audit Office, (d) were under the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Ombudsman or other ombudsmen, (e) had their own complaints procedure, (f) were required to observe the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, (g) possessed a register of Members' interests, (h) allowed the public to inspect a register of Members' interests, (i) were subject to a public right to attend board meetings or committee meetings, (j) were obliged to release reports of meetings, (k) were subject to a public right to inspect agendas of meetings, (l) were subject to a public right to see minutes of meetings, (m) were required to hold public meetings, (n) (i) maintained an internet site and (ii) were developing an internet site and (o) had been subject to a quinquennial review within the last year, including a continuing review. [114166]
§ Mr. HainAll executive and advisory NDPBs sponsored by our Department on 1 April 1999 were required to publish annual reports; to publish annual accounts (where they had significant expenditure of their own); to operate in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information; and to draw up, and make publicly available on request, a Register of Members' Interests. All NDPBs were also encouraged to hold meetings in public and to release or otherwise make available records of meetings. There was, however, no statutory requirement or obligation for them to do so.
Information on audit arrangements for executive NDPBs is set out in Public Bodies 1999. Information on which NDPBs maintain their own website can be accessed from the Cabinet Office quango website (www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/quango).
The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission was subject to a quinquennial review during 1998.