§ Mr. Richard ShepherdTo ask the Attorney-General if he will identify, by computerised reference number, the Public Record Office pieces or files which have been released for public inspection in January following extended closure for(a) 50 years, (b) 75 years and (c) 100 years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralNearly 700 items, previously closed for longer than 30 years, became available for public inspection in the Public Record Office at the beginning of January 1990. I am making arrangements for a listing of the references of these items to be made available in the Library in due course and on request to members of the public.
§ Mr. Richard ShepherdTo ask the Attorney-General whether the Lord Chancellor will invite his Advisory Council on Public Records to undertake a quality check of those papers due for release in 1990, following extended closure of 50, 75 and 100 years, to ensure that Departments have released as much material as possible.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe advisory council is consulted before the Lord Chancellor agrees to any records remaining closed beyond 30 years. The records which became available at the beginning of this year in the Public Record Office, after previous closure for longer than 30 years, were originally closed, under the provisions of s.5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958, as amended in 1967, after consultation with the Advisory Council on Public Records. The records concerned number nearly 700, and it would be impractical for material in this quantity to be checked by the advisory council, but the items referred to are all now open to public inspection in the Public Record Office reading rooms. The role of the advisory council in relation to the operations of s.5(1) of the Act is set out in paragraphs 38 and 39 of the White Paper, "Modern Public Records: The Government response to the Report of the Wilson Committee", Cmnd 8531, March 1982.