§ Mr. Footasked the Prime Minister whether the Security Commission has yet reported on the case of Mr. Wagstaff; and when the commission's report will be published.
§ The Prime MinisterI announced on 18 December 1980 that I had asked the Security Commission on 23 June to investigate and report upon the circumstances in which John Barry Wagstaff, a former executive officer in the Ministry of Defence, had been charged with an offence under the Official Secrets Act, and upon any related failure of departmental security arrangements or neglect of duty and, in the light of its investigation, to advise whether any change in security arrangements is necessary or desirable.
The Security Commission reported to me on 2 April 1981. Copies of its report are available in the Vote Office. The commission concludes that a number of individual civil servants were responsible for breaches in security regulations, particularly regarding their failure to report the apparent loss of classified information in 1978. This 148W failure led to a regrettable delay in the proper investigation of the case. The Government accept these criticisms and have taken steps to try to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.
The commission also concludes that a contributory factor might have been that the security regulations did not, at that time, give specific guidance on the handling of classified information stored on magnetic tape. It recommends that revised guidance should be issued on the handling within Government Departments of classified information processed under new technologies. The Government are taking the recommended action.