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Parliament closes this week until after the Party Conferences, and reopens in October.

It is the best season of the year for a certain sort of blogger or journalist. It is the time when Government Departments publish Written Ministerial Statements by the shedload, in order to “clear the desk”. Certain unsympathetic people will note that it is also the optimum time to publish unpopular proposals which will affect public image, since it is the time where there is the maximum delay - until October - before scrutiny in Parliament will be possible.

For specialist bloggers and perhaps for occasional Comment is Free writers, it is an opportunity for detailed research without the day to day grind of political knockabout as a distraction.

A brief update to my previous posting.

On the last day of the Parliamentary Session, another 46 Ministerial Written Statements were released. That makes 98 since last Thursday.

To be fair, that is less than last-year’s 117 in the last 3 days.

Some nuggets:

* Planning Inspectorate Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08.
* Equitable Life - again.
* Free Cash Machines (Low-income Areas). Provide 600 new free cash machines in poor areas. Is PO closure negating this programme?
* Food: Poultry Register
* EU: Financial Management and Fraud
* Revenue and Customs: The next stage in the reorganisation. Looks relatively innocuous.
* Review of Civil Aviation Authority
* Local Transport Bill: “measures to improve public transport and tackle road congestion.”. Hmmm - one for Councillors.
* Annual Reports: Jobcentre Plus (HC 707), the Pension Service (HC 855), the Disability and Carers Service (HC 719), and the Rent Service (HC 729).
* The annual report and accounts of the Child Support Agency will be laid before the House shortly. (Does that mean during the break? - or is that shortly as in “next October”.)

Doubtless some innocuous, but others ….

The list is here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?d=2008-07-17

A number of Written Ministerial statements refer to “Copies of the documents have been placed in the Vote Office and the Libraries of both Houses”.

I’m based in the Midlands - so I need to know how I can review these findings at a time when Parliament is not sitting, or even when it is in session.

I thought I would ask them to find out.

[Update 16:15: 18/7/2008. For the document I am currently interested in, I received a response to my email with a web location within 35 minutes. Most impressive, and a credit to the House of Commons Information Office.]