61.
In respect of Reports from the Public Accounts Committee, it is for Departments to prepare their own Press Notices, if any, and information to be given to the Press. There is, however, a specific undertaking given to the Committee by the Treasury in December 1968 that information provided by Departments to the Press will be confined to background and supplementary information of a character not intended to be "controversial comments", will not contain argument about the Committee's recommendations, and will be "vetted" by the Treasury. As far as possible a record should be kept of these departmental statements so that disputes about their form and content may be avoided. The arrangements in this paragraph also apply to immediate comment on Reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Timing
The
62.
Select Committees have often been critical of the time taken by Departments to reply to their Reports, and the Procedure Committee has recommended that Departments should normally be required to publish their observations on Select Committee Reports within two months of publication of the Reports. Committee proposed that, in the event of insuperable difficulties which make this impracticable, an interim set of observations should be produced within two months, and within every two month period thereafter.
63.
It
Previous Government statements have drawn attention to the practical difficulties there would be in giving a firm undertaking to reply in all such cases within this timescale. has been pointed out that Committee Reports tend to cover issues which require consideration in some depth, and consultations within and outside Departments are frequently necessary before a substantive reply can be provided. Departments should however do their best to meet the two-month timetable recommended by the Procedure Committee. Where this is not possible, the reply should certainly be provided within six months and letters should go to the Committee before the expiry of the two-month period
If these explaining why the earlier deadline cannot be met. deadlines fall in the summer recess Committees may prefer publication of the Government's reply to be held over until Parliament reconvenes. In these circumstances, Liaison Officers should consult the Clerk as early as possible for guidance.
Form of reply
64. In considering the form which the Government's considered reply to a Select Committee report should take, it is important to remember that the reply must in all circumstances be delivered first to Parliament. Replies usually take one of the following forms: (i) a Command Paper; (ii) a memorandum or a letter to
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