Public Record Office

HC Deb 18 June 1992 vol 209 cc616-7W

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many papers have been withdrawn from the Public Record Office by his Department in each of the last five years.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

In each of the past five years the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has temporarily recalled the following numbers of files from the Public Record Office.

	Number
1991	2,425
1990	2,113
1989	3,316
1988	3,324
1987	2,851

All Foreign and Commonwealth Office files temporarily recalled from the Public Record Office are held for the minimum period of time necessary for official business, and are returned to the Public Record Office thereafter.