Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to section 9.21 of the White Paper on Open Government, on what basis he stated census returns contain an explicit assurance that records will not be released for 100 years. [50831]
§ Dr. David ClarkConfidentiality of the information in decennial census returns is governed by sanctions against unlawful disclosure in successive Census Acts and provisions in the Public Records Acts as to custody, closure to public inspection and access to the records. However, as well as observing the legal constraints on disclosure, regard is also paid to the assurances of confidentiality given at the time the information was collected from the public. For example, the 1991 census form stated that
The forms will be kept securely within my—the Registrar General's—Office and treated as confidential for 100 years".I presume it is to these assurances of confidentiality that the previous Government were referring in the 1993 White Paper to which the hon. Member refers.