Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Rejected
Paragraph: 55
Home Office withholding of ACMD's 2016 report undermines transparency and established practice.
Conclusion
We are disappointed that the Home Office has repeatedly refused to publish the ACMD’s 2016 report, including to this Committee on a confidential basis. No other ACMD report remains unpublished and withholding this one contravenes established practice and undermines the ACMD’s transparency.
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly refuses to publish the 2016 ACMD paper or provide a confidential copy, explaining that the ACMD itself marked the paper as confidential and it would be inappropriate for the Home Office to publish it.
Paragraph Reference:
55
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The Government will not publish the 2016 ACMD paper, and respectfully declines to provide the Committee with a confidential copy. According to government guidance, scientific advisory committees are expected to publish final advice where the Chair and members deem it appropriate. Where final advice is not published, the Committee should record the reasons for this. The Home Office received a paper from the ACMD in 2016, which was marked by the ACMD as confidential. The ACMD is independent, and it would not be appropriate or proper for the Home Office to publish an ACMD paper which the ACMD did not intend for publication. Any formal reports from the ACMD are and will continue to be published online, together with any government response to that advice when it is made.