§ Lieut.-Colonel Marloweasked the Minister of Pensions whether, seeing that when a post-morten examination is held upon the body of a man who has died while in any of the Services, a copy of the report of such post-morten examination is made available to the Ministry but 1074W not to the relatives, he will take steps to ensure that copies of such reports will be supplied to the relatives so that they may judge whether the Ministry is justified in refusing a pension?
§ Sir W. WomersleyExcept in cases where the examinations are conducted by the civil authorities, the reports referred to form part of the Service medical record and as such are regarded as strictly confidential and privileged. While the documents are only temporarily in my custody, and I am not, therefore, primarily responsible for preserving their confidential character, I am in complete agreement with my right hon. Friends, the Ministers concerned, that it is in the public interest to maintain the principle that these records are confidential.