Written question asked by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 November 2003. It was answered by Lord McIntosh of Haringey (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 November 2003.

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McIntosh of Haringey, Lord

Question

Following the premature publication of the September retail sales figures: (a) whether they will name the individuals within the Treasury, with their job titles, who had pre-release access to those figures, indicating in each case whether this access was for briefing purposes, for management information or for quality assurance purposes; and (b) whether they have now reduced the number of individuals who have pre-release access to the monthly retail sales figures, and, if so, to what number; and why releases of market sensitive statistical information require early access by Treasury officials and Ministers, either (a) up to 40.5 hours in advance or (b) at all; and what are the monthly releases of statistical information which they consider to be market sensitive, showing the numbers of individuals within the Treasury who received early access to each release in the month of September 2003. [HL 5391] [HL 5392] [HL 5393].

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Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

654 c313-4WA; HL 5391

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Access Disclosure of information Civil servants Ministers Statistics Retail trade Treasury