§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their current freedom of information policy and practice regarding the publication of legally privileged advice to government where such advice was given more than 30 years ago and concerns matters of legitimate public interest. [HL1274]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The current policy and criteria for extended closure or retention by a department of records more than 30 years old was set out in Chapter 9 and Annex C of the White PaperOpen Government (CM 2290) in 1993. Records containing such advice are reviewed on their merits, and extended closure or retention is only sought where the information contained in the advice is, in itself, sensitive. In other cases the records are opened when they are 30 years old. This is in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967.
When the right of access under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act comes into force in January 2005, it will not be possible for information to be exempt from disclosure on grounds of legal professional privilege unless the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs that of disclosing the information. Furthermore, from then, information cannot be exempt from disclosure on grounds of legal professional privilege if it is contained in an historical record, (broadly speaking those which are more than 30 years old). However, other exemptions from the right of access may continue to apply depending on the content of the advice.