Following a court ruling that acted unlawfully in the awarding of a government
contract, Labour has today accused Gove of misleading Parliament
regarding the operations of a secretive Cabinet Office “Clearing
House” that handles Freedom of Information (FOI) requests
following a separate court ruling against the Minister for the
Cabinet Office.
Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster Angela Rayner has written to the Prime Minister
demanding that the Government’s Independent Adviser investigate
whether Gove misled Parliament and broke the Ministerial Code,
when he told a parliamentary committee in December 2020 that:
“The idea that there is a secret clearing house or any sort of
blacklist is, I am afraid, not correct”. Rayner’s letter says
that this statement “has been proven to be untrue” by a court
judgement published earlier this week, which confirmed that the
Clearing House does exist, and that the Government had tried to
cover up how it operates.
Following legal action that spanned three years, a court ruled
that the Cabinet Office had attempted to mislead the court about
the operation of the Clearing House and demonstrated a “profound
lack of transparency about the operation of this unit”, ordering
the Cabinet Office to publish documents revealing details of how
the FOI Clearing House operates.
Rayner has demanded that the investigation include these
documents in order to determine whether Gove broke the
Ministerial Code a second time when he told Parliament that: “all
freedom of information requests are treated in exactly the same
way”, after allegations of blacklisting journalists, the
withholding of some information requested under Freedom of
Information laws and the government treating some Freedom of
Information requests differently to others based on the subject
matter and who requested the information.
Ends
Notes to Editors
· Full text of letter from Angela Rayner to the Prime Minister
To: Prime Minister
Cc: , Cabinet
Secretary
Dear Prime Minister
I am writing to you following a court judgement in a case
regarding the Cabinet Office’s ‘Clearing House’ for Freedom of
Information requests. In this case, the judge ruled that the
Cabinet Office had presented “misleading” documents regarding the
Clearing House unit in the Cabinet Office, demonstrating a
“profound lack of transparency about the operation” of this unit.
The judge ordered the Cabinet Office to release further details
of how the Clearing House handled Freedom of Information
requests, however these documents have yet to be released.
The Cabinet Office lists one of its own key responsibilities as
“making the way government works more transparent”, yet as the
court’s damning judgement makes clear, your government is
determined to undermine accountability and transparency at every
turn, including when Ministers have been asked about this
Clearing House unit.
Giving evidence to Parliament as a witness to the Public
Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, on 10th
December 2020, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and
Minister for the Cabinet Office said: “The idea that there is a secret clearing house or
any sort of blacklist is, I am afraid, not correct. Actually, I
am glad it is not correct. It is the case that when we look at
all freedom of information requests… whether it is a freelance
journalist, someone working for an established title or a
concerned citizen, all freedom of information requests are
treated in exactly the same way”.
It would appear that Mr Gove has misled Parliament, whether
knowingly or unknowingly, in saying “the idea that there is a
secret clearing house… is … not correct”, a statement that has
been proven to be untrue by this court judgement.
Mr Gove also stated that all Freedom of Information requests are
treated “in exactly the same way”, denying any notion that the
Clearing House works to try to withhold some information
requested under Freedom of Information laws, treating some
Freedom of Information requests differently to others or even
blacklisting certain journalists and researchers.
Because of the lack of transparency regarding the operations of
the Cabinet Office Clearing House, the truth about the operations
of the unit – and therefore whether Mr Gove misled Parliament by
saying that “all freedom of information requests are treated in
exactly the same way” – will be revealed in the documents that
the judge has ruled must now be released.
The Ministerial Code is clear that: “It is of paramount
importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information
to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest
opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be
expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister”.
As laid out in the Terms of Reference for the Independent Adviser
on Ministers’ Interests, I would urge you to consult the Cabinet
Secretary and refer this matter to the Independent Adviser of
Ministers’ Interests for a full investigation. This investigation
must include within its scope the documents regarding the
operation of the Cabinet Office Clearing House that the Cabinet
Office has been ordered to release by the judge in this case, and
any further documents relating to the treatment of Freedom of
Information requests by the Cabinet Office Clearing House unit.
Yours sincerely
Rt Hon
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
