Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if that part of section 9.21 of the Open 61W Government White Paper of 1993 (Cm 2290) relating to the closure of census returns for England and Wales represents current Government policy. [81791]
§ Ms HewittThe legislation covering the closure of census returns represents current Government policy. Census Returns form 1901 and 1911 are closed to the public for 100 years by virtue of Instrument 12 dated 1966 of the Public Records Act 1958. Censuses from 1921 onwards were taken under the terms of the Census Act 1920 as amended by the Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991 which gives protection to personal census information given by the public.
The Open Government White Paper section 9.21 accurately describes the position with respect to those census returns in the custody of the Public Record Office.