The Season to examine Ministerial Written Statements for Smuggled Proposals

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Matt Wardman (Wardman Wire): Parliament closes this week until after the Party Conferences, and reopens in October.

It is the best season of the year for a certain sort of blogger or journalist. It is the time when Government Departments publish Written Ministerial Statements by the shedload, in order to “clear the desk”. Certain unsympathetic people will note that it is also the optimum time
to publish unpopular proposals which will affect public image, since it is the time where there is the maximum delay - until October - before scrutiny in Parliament will be possible.

For specialist bloggers, campaigners, and perhaps for occasional Comment is Free writers, it is an opportunity for detailed research without the day to day grind of political knockabout as a distraction.

2007: 120 Written Ministerial Statements in 3 Days

In 2007 there were no less than 120 Ministerial Written Statements in the last three days of the Parliamentary term. I published a full list in the hope that I could generate some interest - if it did I never heard about it, but I’m willing to have a second try in 2008. It is also the time of year when some potentially controversial annual reports appear.

Some Examples from 2007

Nuggets in the last three days of the Parliamentary Term in July 2007 included:

* The announcement of a review of 160,000 tax credit mistakes.
* Membership of Ethics Group to Monitor National DNA Database.
* Annual Report for Criminal Records Bureau.
* Reports on the Riots Last Year at Immigration Removal Centres.
* Police Complaints Commission Annual Report.
* Intelligence and Security Committee Report.
* Intercept Evidence in Court.
* Statement on How to Restrain Children.
* Schools fingerprinting children.
* Disability Rights Commission Annual Report.
* Prospects for the European Union in 2007.
* Medical Expert Witnesses.
* Independent Police Complaints Commission (Annual Report).
* Living Animals (Scientific Procedures).
* Local Government Unitary Councils (i.e., unpopular abolition of District Councils).

Some of these turned into big stories later in the year.

Some Delights from 2008

Since Thursday of last week there have been 98 Written Statements, compared to 57 in the previous fortnight.

Nuggets and potentially incendiary subjects this week include:

* Corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
* “Complex Weapons“.
* Rail Franchise Enforcement Policy (do you remember the GNER fiasco).
* Security Planning at Airports (remember the attempt to Fingerprint everyone at Terminal 5).
* Inquests into Service Personnel Dying Overseas.
* Magee Review of Criminality Information.
This is about the database state, and has been placed in the Commons’
and Lords’ Libraries, but not - apparently - on any public website.
* A consultation about the Information Commissioner (this has an extremely naughty consultation period from now until late August when everyone is on holiday - so enquiries in Parliament are actually impossible).
* Tax Credits. The level of error is down from 9.2% to 7.6% percent, which sounds to me like more than 1.5 million errors a year amongst the 20 million people involved. No overall financial numbers published. Big deal.
* The Locker Review on Indeterminate Sentences of Imprisonment.
* A draft bill to replace almost all of our current immigration laws.

Published equals “Not Published”

One huge point of concern is that for a number of these reports, “publishing” seems to be limited to “Copies of the documents have been placed in the Vote Office and the Libraries of both Houses” - if my inference from the absence of any reference to a copy placed on a website is correct.

Worringly, it appears particularly to be security and policing documents which are not made available on public websites.

I am digging into this, and will report my findings.

Step Forward the Fifth Estate

This is a good opportunity for specialist scrutiny of government by private individuals that rarely happens in the media - step forward The Fifth Estate - bloggers.

It is also a good opportunity for sceptical commentators to get their retaliation in first, as website articles written now may be emerging into good positions in the search engines by the end of the summer.

Wrapping Up

I will - once again - be publishing a full set of links to the Written Ministerial Statements as soon as I can compile one. Watch this space.

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