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Written question asked by Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour) on Monday, 20 March 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 March 2017 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Thursday, 23 March 2017. A substantive answer was provided by Ben Gummer (Conservative) on Friday, 24 March 2017 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

George Osborne

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to prevent the right hon. Member for Tatton from accessing copies of Government, Cabinet or Cabinet Committee papers relating to the period when he was in the Government while he is the Editor of the London Evening Standard.

Answer

It is a longstanding convention that former Ministers are allowed reasonable access to the papers that were issued to them when in office. However, such access is at the Government's discretion and is conditional on potential authors undertaking to comply with the Radcliffe principles. The detail of the Radcliffe principles can be found in the Directory of Civil Service (volume 2), which is available on Gov.uk. I believe that the continued application of these provisions will provide the suitable reassurance that the Hon. Member is seeking.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
68598
Session
2016-17
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Disclosure of information Evening Standard Official publications Osborne, George
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk