Written question asked by John Stanley (Conservative) on Thursday, 4 March 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 9 March 1999. It was answered by Tony Blair (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 March 1999 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Prime Minister, if (a) he, (b) civil servants in his Department or (c) special advisers in his Department have (i) had sight of drafts of select committee reports, in whole or in part, or (ii) been informed of conclusions of select committee reports prior to their publication by the select committees. - Includes ref to 1 March 1999 at 326 c531W.

Answer: Sir John Stanley: To ask the Prime Minister if (a) he, (b) civil servants in his Department or (c) special advisers in his Department have (i) had sight of drafts of select committee reports, in whole or in part, or (ii) been informed of conclusions of select committee reports prior to their publication by the select committees. [75669] The Prime Minister: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 1 March 1999, Official Report, column 531. There have been no instances of members of Select Committees giving me drafts of Select Committee reports, or of parts of reports including their conclusions, before publication. Nor to the best of my knowledge have there been any occasions on which members of Select Committees have given such material to civil servants or special advisers in my Office. This excludes embargoed copies issued under House of Commons Standing Order 116.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 75669; 327 c169W
Session: 1998-99
Subjects: Disclosure of information Civil servants Government departments Prime Minister Special advisers Select committees Select Committee reports