§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage and how many documents in 1996 she estimates were(a) passed on to the Public Record Office intact, (b) passed on to the Public Record Office in censored form, (c) retained by her Department in full, (d) retained by her Department in part, (e) destroyed, (f) otherwise disposed of and (g) otherwise unaccounted for. [2522]
§ Mr. FieldIn 1996 the Department of Social Security did not transfer any documents to the Public Record Office. However, during that year 17,935 files were reviewed of which 1,392 were selected for permanent preservation and transferred to the Public Records Office in March 1997. None of the files was censored. No applications were made to the Lord Chancellor to retain documents in full or in part. A total of 15,957 files were destroyed, no files were otherwise disposed of or unaccounted for.