Written question asked by Llew Smith (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 13 October 2004. It was answered by Lord Hain (Labour) on Wednesday, 13 October 2004 on behalf of the Leader of the House of Commons.

Leader of the House of Commons

Question: To ask the Leader of the House, what proposals he has to increase public knowledge of the dates of sitting and subject of inquiries by select committees; and what proposals he has to facilitate public access to select committee hearings.

Answer: Llew Smith: To ask the Leader of the House what proposals he has to increase public knowledge of the dates of sitting and subject of inquiries by select committees; and what proposals he has to facilitate public access to select committee hearings. [190141] Mr. Hain: Considerable progress has been made in making information about Committee activity more readily accessible to the public. In particular, I commend the new forward calendar of Committee activity on the Parliament website and the Committee Office telephone information line. The live webcasting of all Committee hearings is also a very welcome development. However, I believe that more needs to be done to ensure that the information provided reaches a greater section of the public; and to this end I hope that the House of Commons Commission will give sympathetic consideration to the recommendations in the Modernisation Committee's recent report on Connecting Parliament with the Public. The reception and security facility planned for Cromwell Green will facilitate public access to select committee hearings. I very much hope that the House will also support in due course plans for a Visitors' and Educational Centre, which would allow for live relay of Committee hearings, as well as proceedings in the Chamber.

Secondary information