§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what powers he has to reduce the closure period of official decennial census records; what representations he has received requesting the reduction of the closure period of official decennial census records; and if he will instruct the Public Record Office to reduce the closure period of official decennial census records to 75 years. [65913]
§ Mr. HoonThe Lord Chancellor has powers under section 5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958 to reduce the closure period of official records with the approval, or at the request, of the Minister primarily concerned.
The Lord Chancellor has received a number of representations from family historians requesting a reduction in the closure period of official decennial census records.
The Lord Chancellor does not intend to change the existing closure period, which corresponds to the guidelines established in the White Paper Open Government of 1993 (Cm 2290). This assigned a 100-year closure period for decennial census returns on the grounds that they consisted of documents supplied in confidence the disclosure of which would constitute a breach of good faith.
The intention of the Minister primarily concerned with the decennial census returns, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, was expressed in a written answer to Lord Teviot on 14 October 1997, Official Report, House of Lords, columns 138–39.