§ 77. Commander Courtneyasked the Minister of Aviation if he will explain the existence in unauthorised hands of a 160W photostat copy of a restricted document emanating from his Department which was forwarded to him on 30th June by the hon. Member for Harrow, East; which section of his Department is responsible for the custody of this document; and what disciplinary action he intends to take against the individuals responsible.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThe document in question, which contains no information of any security significance, was an annex to a contract, incorrectly graded Restricted, which my Department had issued to a private firm. Restricted is the lowest of security classifications and is used for documents whose disclosure while not desirable, would not be damaging to the nation's interests.
An employee who has since left the firm moved it improperly from the office in which he was working. I have written to the hon. and gallant Member about the circumstances in which the employee was able to remove the document; they do not afford grounds for disciplinary action within my Department.