§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list occasions on which his Department has conducted an inquiry into alleged leaks from members of staff since 1997; and if he will list the occasions on which the names of those persons accused of leaking information from his Department have been made public(a) by the Government and (b) by way of another source. [146943]
§ Mr. RammellSince 1997 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has investigated 20 suspected leaks. In line with exemptions 1(a) and 7(b) of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it has been the practice of successive governments not to comment on the outcome of such inquiries in order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements.