§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Attorney-General what guidelines cover the circumstances in which official files held by Departments may be destroyed; and what changes have taken place in these guidelines in the last 20 years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe framework within which records of Government Departments are selected for permanent preservation is that recommended in the report of the Grigg committee in 1954 (Cmd. 9163) and accepted by the Government in 1955. The Public Record Office issues guidelines to Departments on the procedures to be followed and on the general criteria for selection. These guidelines are kept under review by the Public Record Office and were last updated in 1983.
Section 3(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 provides that records that have been rejected as not required for permanent preservation shall be destroyed unless the approval of the Lord Chancellor has been obtained for their disposal in some other way.