HC Deb 04 March 1996 vol 273 cc15-6
26. Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representation he has received about the rules governing the date of release of documents from the Public Record Office. [16441]

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. Jonathan Evans)

Neither the Lord Chancellor nor I have received any recent representations either about the 30-year closure period for public records provided for by the Public Records Act 1958, or about the criteria for closure for longer than 30 years.

Mr. Banks

I shall make a representation now. The Government continue to bang on about freedom of information, but there are records relating, for example, to the force-feeding of suffragettes or the abdication crisis and the Nazi past of Edward VIII that we are not allowed to know anything about. Is not it right that we should be told what has occurred in this country's history? All of those records should be freely available now and in the public domain.

Mr. Evans

The hon. Gentleman might be interested to know that the 30-year period rule was established in 1967 by the then Labour Government and that the 30-year standard closure period—

Mr. Banks

The suffragettes were more than 30 years ago.

Mr. Evans

Does the hon. Gentleman want to listen to the answer? The 30-year closure period is standard in most European Union countries. Notwithstanding that fact, in 1992–93, the Government decided to undertake a policy review in the area. After receiving representations, we came to the conclusion that 30 years was appropriate in those cases which the advisory council on public records—chaired by the Master of the Rolls—considers should be subject to the closure.

Mr. Lidington

Does my hon. Friend agree that much more must be done to improve access to the public records by people who cannot make the difficult journey to the Public Record Office at Kew? Will he, therefore, encourage the keeper in her work of ensuring that finding aids, indices and some of the records are available through on-line databases and other forms of new technology?

Mr. Evans

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his observations. I share his concern about ensuring that public records are maintained and made available to the public. We are dealing with a substantial number of records, which is one of the reasons why the move to Kew was undertaken. His points about indices and matters of that nature are well taken.