Prescott's secret meetings
We know that 91Èȱ¬ Secretary John Reid has been busy for the past few days chairing meetings of COBRA, the government's emergency response committee.
But what has John Prescott been up to for the past few weeks? What meetings has he been chairing?
That, however, is a secret. The 91Èȱ¬ put in a freedom of information request for this information, but the Cabinet Office has refused to release it.
Following the last government reshuffle, Downing Street's media briefers were keen to stress how many cabinet committees are chaired by Prescott, to show that he still had a full-time job despite all the criticisms once he was no longer in charge of a department.
According to the , the Deputy PM chairs nine committees, on topics ranging from Local and Regional Government to Animal Rights Extremism.
But how often have these committees actually met? How many meetings has he actually chaired?
A Cabinet Office official has rejected the 91Èȱ¬'s request for this information, on the grounds that "If Ministers and officials suspected that this information would be released, they would be less likely to make use of the Cabinet Committee system, and this would significantly undermine its effectiveness."
The letter also argued (see relevant extracts here): "If Ministers and officials suspected that once a decision was reached, information pertaining to the process by which they had reached that point was to be released (such as the timing and sequencing of meetings), they might be less willing to engage in full and frank discussion of the available options."
A 
°ä´Ç³¾³¾±ð²Ô³Ù²õÌýÌý Post your comment
Hi Martin,
I notice your blog gets less comments than others at the 91Èȱ¬, but I for one appreciate your efforts.
Keep up the good work.
...and thus so called 'freedom of information' is shown in its true light... not worth a ha'pence of tar...
Martin,
This government seems to be run by the same people who wrote yes minister.
The gist of the rejection appears to say the if the democratic process becomes transparent, then it will cease to work correctly.
Example:
the government will ask questions on our behalf but not tell you what those questions were. Any outcome from those questions being asked may be made public should it please the ministers who asked the questions, but only if the ministers and questions remain secret.
We all know the answer, so the Cabinet Office isn't releasing it as it is politically embarassing. But perhaps we should the thankful that the less the ludicrous Prezza does the better for the UK. Truly the most reviled and incompetent minister in living memory (Blair excluded)
Maybe Prescott's not well. He looks dreadful.
The FOI act may not be working as effectively as it should, but I guess that what ISN'T released tells you as much as the information which is. Keep afflicting the comfortable..
Prezza has a degree of sympathy from me over his lack of syntex etc. I have a similar condition, and have had my leg pulled many times over the years, and by those who should know better. With that said is he worth £100,000 plus every year, and a golden handshake when he goes. me thinks not!!!
what is the alternative!! cameroon
Some editions of the London Evening Standard today (22 August 2006) report that work has already started, secretly, on the supercasino at the Dome in Greenwich. This is before the Casino Advisory Panel has conducted its Examination in Public (Greenwich one is on 30 August) or made its final decision. So that's what Prezza has been doing, I guess - making things comfy for Anschutz and AEG.
That's only one of the strange aspects of this supercasino application.