§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what orders have been given and arrangements put in hand for the repatriation, cataloguing and storage of(a) paper-based and (b) electronic records of (i) the allied rapid reaction corps since its deployment from Germany to Macedonia and Kosovo and (ii) every British military unit since their deployment as part of joint allied operations in Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro. [90260]
§ Mr. George RobertsonThere are long-standing procedures already in place, set out in Service Instructions, which cover the creation and return to MOD UK of appropriate records of operational deployments by British forces. MOD is of course in touch with British forces in the Balkan theatre on this matter.
Such records, whether in paper or electronic format, once returned to the United Kingdom are handled in accordance with the Department's standard procedures to make them available for MOD purposes, and for subsequent archiving and consideration for eventual transfer to the Public Record Office in accordance with the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967.
The Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps is however a NATO force; accordingly the treatment of the records from HQ ARRC itself must also reflect NATO requirements.