Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department how many of the post-1920 census returns have been transferred to the Public Record Office; and what would be the impact on staffing and accommodation at the Public Record Office of the transfer of all decennial census returns to the Office 30 years after their creation. [70993]
§ Mr. HoonNone of the post-1920 census returns has been transferred to the Public Record Office.
The post-1920 decennial census returns which were created more than 30 years ago occupy about 50 linear kilometres of storage space. If they were transferred to the Public Record Office they would fill up all storage space available now and require the provision of substantial additional accommodation. They would also require an estimated three additional members of staff for maintenance and security.
Substantial additional storage space would also be required for the statutory transfers of records over the next decade or so which they would displace.
Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement about the failure of Registrars General, during the period 1969 to 1985, to transfer census returns to the Public Record Office not later than 30 years after their creation; and(a) when and (b) by whom this failure was first brought to the attention of a Lord Chancellor. [70995]
§ Mr. HoonThe census returns in question were not transferred during the period 1969 to 1985 because at that time the advice was that the existence of a statutory bar to disclosure, established by the Census Act 1920, overcame the obligation on departments to transfer their records by the time they were 30 years old. However, the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys wished its retention of the returns to be covered by the Lord Chancellor's approval and this was given in 1985.
This matter was not brought to the attention of a Lord Chancellor since the fact that the records had not been trasferred was not then considered to be noncompliance with the provisions of the Public Record Acts.
727W