§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
On how many occasions and in what circumstances they or their predecessors have refused to comply with recommendations by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration since that office was established by Parliament. [HL3109]
§ The Parliamentary Under Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)There have been two occasions where Her Majesty's Government have not complied with recommendations by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration on questions of disclosure of information under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
The first instance, in 2001, related to a refusal to disclose the number of times Ministers had made declarations of interest or sought advice in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
The second instance, in 2003, related to a refusal to disclose information relating to the acceptance of gifts by Ministers in accordance with the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
In both instances, it was maintained that to release the requested information would occasion significant harm to the frankness and candour of internal discussion and would represent an unwarranted invasion of Ministers' privacy.