One of the most effective ways in which Parliament can probe the actions and policies of Ministers and their Departments is through Parliamentary Questions. In the early 1990s, this vital constitutional procedure was undermined by the creation of a large number of “executive agencies” to perform important functions of government. Ministers refused to answer questions relating to those functions. Instead, the question was passed to the chief executive of the agency, who wrote to the MP. The reply was not published in Hansard, but a copy was placed in the House of Commons Library where, in theory, it could be seen by other M.P.s and members of the public.
The eleven monthly issues of Open Lines published between July 1991 and August 1992 contain nearly 400 letters to Members of Parliament, written by chief executives of ‘Next Steps’ agencies in the previous month in reply to Parliamentary Questions on subjects relating to social security and employment. They were retyped, published and distributed by Paul Flynn MP and his research assistant, Tony Lynes, supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. They were awarded a Freedom of Information Award for their work.
From October 1992, the letters were themselves published in Hansard. Publication of Open Lines was therefore no longer necessary and ceased. The eleven issues published here, however, remain a unique source, covering most of the period for which the information given in them was not published either in Hansard or anywhere else.