“Why isn’t this government carrying on the precedents started by the previous government” squawked Burnham in the House a moment ago. Apparently this Risk Register is not the same as Labour’s Risk Register in 2009. If that is the case,  it is odd then that the reasons officials gave for not releasing the two Registers are remarkably similar. Almost as if they were written by the same civil servant.

Here is Lansley’s answer:

“Whilst conscious that there will be public interest in the contents of the Department’s Risk Register and assessments being made freely available, the public interest in preserving the ability of officials to engage in discussions of policy options and risks without apprehension that suggested courses of action may be held up to public or media scrutiny before they have been fully developed or evaluated has also been taken into account.”

And here is Burnham’s from 2009:

“Whilst we are conscious that there will be public interest in the contents of the Strategic Risk Register being made freely available, we have also taken into account the public interest in preserving the ability of officials to engage in discussions of policy options and risks without apprehension that suggested courses of action may be held up to public or media scrutiny before they have been fully developed or evaluated. “

Has Burnham forgotten his former position? Well yes it would appear he has. Health sources were most amused yesterday when a worried Burnham called the department’s civil servants to check whether he did indeed approve a decision not to publish his Risk Register. Whoops…