§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 12 November,Official Report, column 113, on records relating to the war-time occupation of the Channel Islands, if he will make a statement on the particular contents of the files to be made available at the Public Record Office; and what factors underlay the delay in their release. [4428]
§ Mr. SoamesThe files to be released are already held by the Public Record Office and the information sought will be readily gleaned from an examination of the papers on their release next week. The files in question were originally closed under the provisions of the Public Record Act 1958 for reasons of personal sensitivity. That sensitivity having lapsed, the files are now being released under the open government initiative.