Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Cheryl Gillan (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 26 March 2008 on behalf of the Welsh Grand Committee.

Devolution

Question: What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the National Assembly for Wales about my written question and my subsequent freedom of information request on releasing the correspondence between his Department, the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government between 1 May 2007 and 1 February 2008, relating to the legislative procedure for Wales, including legislative competence orders? Will he explain why he wrote that making such correspondence available would ““restrict our ability to conduct business effectively.””—[Official Report, 12 March 2008; Vol. 473, c. 461W.]? When will he reply to the freedom of information request that I sent at the same time as I tabled the question?

Answer: The reply will come to the hon. Lady from an official in the Wales Office because that is how the process works. I hope that it will be in her office in a matter of days. On the first part of the hon. Lady’s question, I think that most Ministers and ex-Ministers agree that it would not be wise to put in the public domain certain issues that have to be dealt with because doing so would impede good relations—in this case, between the Assembly and the Government.

Secondary information