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Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee

19th Report - Stemming the flow: An urgent look at tackling a culture of leaks

HC 2541 Published 25 July 2019

Foreign Affairs Committee FCO secure communications and handling of classified information inquiry Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glanceGovernment response published 16 October 2019

The government's response

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government, including the FCO, agrees that all leaks are unacceptable, but does not agree to a pre-appointment hearing for the next Ambassador to the USA.

  • It states "We do not agree" to a pre-appointment hearing, giving as its reason that there is "no provision for it" in Government policy or the legislation and principles governing Civil Service appointments.
  • On classification and distribution, it says the Cabinet Office is reviewing the information handling regime for OFFICIAL level information, and the FCO is "exploring the possibility" of using Office 365 to restrict forwarding and printing of more sensitive e-mails.
  • It agrees that penalties for the most serious breaches "must be severe enough to deter others"; sentencing under the Official Secrets Act 1989 is one of the issues being considered in the Law Commission review it commissioned in 2015.
  • On other sanctions, it notes departments' existing powers in gross misconduct cases, and says the FCO is working with the Cabinet Office, which "is considering if and how" they could be applied to serious leaks.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

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