§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Attorney-General if he will give brief details of all prosecutions since 1945 under section 1 223W of the Official Secrets Act 1911, similar to those given in regard to section 2 in appendix II of the Franks report; stating in each case whether the jury panel was "vetted", and how many members of the panel, if any, were asked to stand by for the Crown.
§ The Attorney-GeneralNo records of the cases in which checks on the jury panel were authorised or carried out exist prior to August 1975 when the "guidelines" were first introduced. There have been two prosecutions under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act since then in both of which a check was made on the jury panel but in neither case was any record kept of the exercise by the Crown of its right to stand by jurors. In the circumstances I have limited my answer to the details of proceedings since August 1975.
Case 1. An RAF officer was convicted of attempting to pass information to a foreign power. Nine years' imprisonment.
£ million (1979 Survey Prices) Homes insulation scheme Public sector housing insulation 1978–79 1979–80 1978–79 1979–80 England … … … 23.6 24.9 26.0 26.0 Wales … … … … 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 Scotland … … … 1.8 2.8 4.6 4.6