§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up an inquiry into the destruction of his Department's records relating to the execution of Mr. Mahmood Hussein Mattan in Cardiff in 1952.
§ Mr. HowardNo. My Department's records relating to this capital murder case were destroyed in November 1986, in the course of the standard review processes applied to departmental records under the Public Records Acts.
Records are preserved at such reviews only if they are of continuing administrative use to the Department or if they are selected for permanent preservation at the Public Record Office on the basis of their historical interest. The vast majority of Home Office records are destroyed during these review processes.