§ 29. Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of unauthorised disclosure of information under the Official Secrets Act involving his Department occurred in each of the last five years; how many such cases were dealt with as internal disciplinary matters; and in how many cases police inquiries were initiated.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonStatistics are not kept centrally on the numbers of alleged unauthorised disclosures of defence information. Investigations of such cases very occasionally show that such disclosures were deliberate; more frequently they are inconclusive, or they show that there was no breach of security or that any breach was due to carelessness. Any prosecutions under the Official Secrets Acts must be authorised by my right hon. Friend the Attorney-General; where preliminary investigation suggests that a prosecution under those Acts might have to be considered, the Director of Public Prosecutions is140W consulted over the method of investigation. In 1982 one member of my Department's staff was prosecuted for such offences; in 1983 two; in 1984 none; in 1985 eight and in 1986 none. Two of those persons were convicted and nine acquitted.