§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Cabinet Office if he will list the public consultations undertaken by his 957W officials since June 2001, stating in each case the (a) number of respondents and (b) percentage of those specifically consulted who responded. [60139]
§ Mr. AlexanderThe following formal national public consultations, which are subject to the Code of Practice on Written Consultation, have been undertaken by the Cabinet Office since June 2001:
- (a) Raising the Educational Attainment of Children in Care (July 2001);
- (b) Transport and Social Exclusion (July 2001);
- (c) The Future of Emergency Planning in England and Wales (August 2001);
- (d) Licensing of Crown Copyright (HMSO) (October 2001).
The number of respondents for each was as follows:
- (a) Raising the Educational Attainment of Children in Care: 200 responses to the consultation document and 2,000 responses to questionnaires distributed through the "Who Cares?" magazine;
- (b) Transport and Social Exclusion: 788;
958W - (c) The Future of Emergency Planning in England and Wales: 267;
- (d) Licensing of Crown Copyright: 39.
The Government's Code of Practice on Written Consultation places an emphasis on making formal national public consultation documents widely available and not restricting them to specific groups or individuals. Consequently there is no requirement in the code to measure the percentage of those specifically consulted who responded. In the case of the HMSO consultation on Licensing of Crown Copyright, for which records were kept on the number specifically consulted, the figure was 17.9 per cent.
The Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit published 'Privacy and Data-Sharing: the Way Forward for Public Services' on 11 April 2002. The report included three recommendations that were raised for consultation. The consultation exercise is being managed by the Lord Chancellor's Department. As the consultation period ends on 12 July no figures are currently held on total numbers of responses.