following procedure should be followed in order to prevent publication. (The disclosure of TOP SECRET information may only be made on the personal authority of the Minister concerned.)
i.
The witness, before leaving the Committee Room, should let the Clerk to the Committee know what portions of his evidence contain matters with a security classification.
ii.
The Clerk will then instruct the shorthand writer not to send for printing the transcript of those portions, but instead to send 3 copies to the Clerk (3 copies in the case of the Public Accounts Committee).
iii.
The Clerk will send 2 copies to the Witness: one is for his retention; on the other he should sideline any passage containing information which, in his opinion, it would be undesirable on grounds of security to print.
Since this procedure involves delay in the printing of evidence, it should only be used where strictly necessary.
b.
Other confidential information
If a Department propose to reveal confidential (but not classified) information which, in view of the Department, it would not be desirable on grounds other than security to include in the published evidence, they should first ask the Committee to agree that it should not be published or at least be certain that the Committee is prepared to agree
Procedures on the to a reasonable degree of sidelining. lines of a. above will then be followed, and the attention of the Clerk to the Committee should be drawn to passages marked in accordance with the procedure at a. but which do not have a security classification (see also paragraph 30). Alternatively it may be sufficient to settle the details of sidelining at a later stage when the proof of evidence is available from the Clerk.
It should be noted that Select Committees may sometimes challenge a request for sidelining, and officials must always be sure that
Challenges are they can justify such a request if they make one. more likely to arise, and sidelining is likely to be more difficult to defend, in the case of b. above than where the information has a standard security classification..
EVIDENCE FROM OTHER BODIES
52. Committees may, as stated in paragraph 5 above, call for evidence from non-departmental bodies for which Departments have responsibility. If a Department become aware that a non- departmental body for which they are responsible has been invited to give evidence, they may wish to consider whether it would be
20
!