§ Mr. Buchananasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will consider relaxing the rules for the release of information from census records, where the information is required to resolve questions of inheritance.
§ Mr. William RossTo preserve the confidentiality of the information which census returns contain, only returns up to and including those for the 1891 census are open for public inspection in Scotland. 273W Later returns will not be opened until 100 years after the census to which they relate. I have, however, decided to modify these general rules so that, where application is made to the Registrar General for specific information from returns later than those of 1891 in order to assist individual members of the public to resolve questions of inheritance, this may be provided. The information will be supplied only to the person named in the census return, a direct descendant, any other possible beneficiary or a legal representative of any of these. No information relating to a census taken less than 50 years ago will be made available.