TNAG-1838-FCO40-2613-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 82

CONFIDENTIAL

Disclosure of Confidential Information in General

i)

It may be that particular information requested by a Committee or other information which a Department consider might have a relevant bearing on a Committee's inquiries, should only be made available on the basis that it will not be published and will be treated in confidence.

Where this is so, the Department should inform the Clerk to the Committee that the information can be made available only on this basis, explaining the reasons in general terms. Such information should not be made available until the Committee has agreed to treat it accordingly; or, in the case of information with no security classification, atleast until the Department are satisfied that the Committee is prepared to agree to a reasonable degree of side-lining (see paragraphs k & 1). In considering the submission of confidential evidence to a Committee, Departments should bear in mind that the final authority as the whether or not evidence shall be published rests with the Committee.

Disclosure of Confidential Information in Oral Evidence

j) If it appears likely that topics to be discussed at a forthcoming public session of a Committee are such that Departmental witnesses would only be able to give substantive answers if they could be treated in confidence, the Department should write to the Chairman or the Clerk to the Committee explaining why this is so: in most cases it is likely that it would be appropriate for the Departmental Minister to write to the Chairman.

Procedures for Avoiding Publication of Confidential Evidence

k) Where confidential written evidence is submitted to a Committee on the understanding that it will not be published, this understanding should be made clear in the covering letter to the Clerk to the Committee accompanying the evidence.

1) In the case of confidential evidence given orally to the Committee the following procedure should be followed in order to ensure that such evidence is not made public.

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 instruct the shorthand writer

accordingly;

CONFIDENTIAL

/iii)