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Response

You asked, for the period 26 November 2004 to 29 June 2005, in respect of conflicts between their public duties and their private interests, how many times ministers in the Department of Health have consulted their Permanent Secretary; which ministers consulted their Permanent Secretary; on what dates ministers consulted their Permanent Secretary; for what reasons ministers consulted their Permanent Secretary; and what action was taken and whether it was necessary to consult the Prime Minister. I would also like to apologise for the delay in replying to your request.

To the extent that the department is required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act) to provide disclosure in relation to the relevant period, the recorded information that it holds is set out in the attached table. In addition, there may have been informal consultations, for example, in the margins of meetings, which will not have been recorded. Any information so disclosed would fall outside the scope of the FOI Act.

In addition, some of the information that you have requested is exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 41 of the FOI Act, because it was provided to the Department in confidence. Under section 41, information is exempt if (a) it was obtained by a public authority from any other person and (b) the disclosure of the information to the public by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

Section 41 applies to some of the information provided to this department in respect of the interests of ministers. There is a strong public interest in protecting the confidentiality of such communications. First, the information is inherently private. It may include information relating to ministers' mortgages and bank account details, for example, which is not in the public domain.  Secondly, it is disclosed as a result of the obligations imposed by the Ministerial Code. Thirdly, that Code expressly states that the information is provided in "complete confidence".

We recognise that a duty of confidence can be overridden by a higher public interest, and we accept that there is a public interest in ensuring that there is an appropriate regime for eliminating any risk of a conflict arising between a minister's private interests and his or her official duties. However, in the circumstances of this case, that public interest does not demand any greater disclosure than that set out in the attached table. 

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