§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the date and title of the oldest document or archival unit retained by her Department which has not been passed on to the Public Record Office for release for public inspection. [7199]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding reply 8 July 1997]: The earliest Northern Ireland Office documents will be due for transfer to the Public Record Offices when they become 30 years old in the year 2002. The Department holds some files concerning Northern Ireland, transferred to it from the Home Office, which are retained under Section 3(4) of the Public Record Act 1958. The earliest retained file held in London is dated 1954 and is entitled "Irish Republican Army Activities—Raid on Gough Barracks Armagh on 12 June 1954". The oldest file held for administrative reasons by the Northern Ireland Office in Belfast is entitled "The Emergency Powers Act (NI) 1926—making of regulations".
There separate administrative arrangements for documents held by the Northern Ireland departments which are subject to the provisions of the Public Records Act (NI) 1923 and the direction of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.