TNAG-0525-FCO40-620-Visit-of-UK-Members-of-Parliament-(Defence-and-External-Affa-1975 — Page 204

CONFIDENTIAL

SELECT COMMITTEES

MEMORANDUM OF GUIDANCE FOR OFFICIALS

This note is intended to give guidance to officials who may be

called to give evidence before, or to prepare memoranda for

submission to, Parliamentary Select Committee. It supersedes thic

note circulated on 19 August 1969 by the Civil Service Department

with DEO letter MG 23/113/01, and it incorporates and up-dates

the guidance on Departmental replies given in PESC (66)17 and

PESC (69)21. While it is primarily intended to cover the Select

Committees of the House of Commons listed in para 3,it is alɛo

generally applicable to Select Committees of the House of Lords

It may not always be literally applicable to the Public Accounts

Committee to whom the Accounting Officer has personal responsibilities

and on behalf of whom the Comptroller and Auditor General has access

to departmental records.

2.

>

The general principle is that it is the duty of officials to

be as helpful as possible to Committees, and that such limitations

as are described are no more than are necessary to preserve constitu-

tional proprieties and confidence which are essential to good

government, or to safeguard national security.

Present Committee System

3.

Following the Green Paper of October 1970 "Select Commitleca

of the House of Commons "(Cînd 4507) and the Commons debate on it

on 12 November 1970, the structure of Commons Committees 18 98

follows:-

1

CONFIDENTIAL