APPENDIX 7
LETTER FROM THE CLERK OF COMMITTEES TO
THE CLERK
OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY COMMITTEE
Dear Liam,
The last meeting of the Liaison Committee considered
the circumstances surrounding the leak of the draft Report by
your Committee to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's PPS. The clear
and unanimous conclusion of the Committee was that, whatever the
circumstances, such a leak did represent substantial interference
with the work of the Social Security Committee. For the avoidance
of doubt I enclose the relevant part of the informal minutes of
the meeting which have been approved by the Chairman.
You may wish to circulate this letter to your Committee
when they reconsider the matter.
Yours ever,
Charles
5 May 1999
Extract from Informal Minutes of the Liaison
Committee Meeting
on Thursday 29 April 1999.
6. Leaks of Select Committee Reports
Mr Kirkwood explained the circumstances of the leak
of a draft report from the Social Security Committee to the PPS
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his Committee's deliberations
on the issue. He also sought the views of the Committee in the
briefing of the press by Committee Chairmen.
The Committee agreed that in its opinion the
leak of the draft report represented a substantial interference
with the work of the committee and that it was for the Social
Security Committee now to decide how to proceed. It also agreed
that Mr Kirkwood had done nothing improper in his discussions
with a journalist.
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