The Hutton Inquiry report will be disclosed to the Government and the BBC at the same time in an attempt to prevent leaks.
Lord Hutton, who has led the investigation in to the circumstances surrounding the death of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly, said all parties to the inquiry would have about 24 hours to consider its finding before it was made public.
Because the inquiry was set up on an ad hoc basis and not as an official judicial inquiry, the decision about when the report is released was down to Lord Hutton himself.
Allegations that those criticised in the report would not have sufficient time to respond were denied by a spokesman. He said those censured in the first sitting were given a right of reply in the second. He added that people would be notified well in advance of any further criticisms of them of which they were unaware.
The report is due out in January.
By Sarah Boden
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