§ Dr. MarekTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list those Government records of the 1960s relating to Gibraltar that have not been released after 30 years; and if he will indicate the reasons for not releasing them. [30399]
§ Mr. HoonPublic records of the 1960s relating to Gibraltar are likely to appear, among the records of a number of Departments, including those of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its predecessor Departments, of the Ministry of Defence and its predecessors, of the Cabinet Office and of the Prime Minister's Office. There is no pre-existent list of records of this period relating to Gibraltar, and currently no automated means of generating one.
As well, the documentation of withheld records that is maintained by the Public Record Office, and in particular the documentation of withheld extracts from records, is by document reference alone, and not by subject description, so that it is not in a form which would enable a listing of unavailable records of the 1960s relating to Gibraltar to be produced, without disproportionate cost. The catalogues available to the public in the Public Record Office note whole items which are closed or retained, but not the fact of a withheld extract, but because there is no pre-existent list of Gibraltar records, the catalogues could not be used to list closed records on this subject, except at similarly high cost.