§ Mr. Newensasked the Attorney-General if he will specify the types of document made subject to an additional period of prescription after being initially made available at the Public Record Office for public scrutiny and study on each occasion that this has occurred over recent years.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe types of document in question consisted on each occasion of correspondence, memoranda, reports and other papers, the content of which brought them within one or more of the categories approved for extended closure under the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967, that is to say
Exceptionally sensitive papers, the disclosure of which would be contrary to the public interest, whether on security or other grounds—including the need to safeguard the revenue;Documents containing information supplied in confidence, the disclosure of which would or might constitute a breach of good faith; andDocuments containing information about individuals, the disclosure of which would cause distress or embarrassment to living persons or their immediate descendants.