§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Sir R. Body), of 21 January 1999,Official Report, column 553, on the Common Market referendum, which provisions of the Public Records Acts relating to the timing of release of documents apply to the files relating to the referendum. [76365]
§ Mr. StrawThe 30-year-rule established by section 5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958, as amended by the Public Records Act 1967, generally applies. However, the Lord Chancellor may give his approval for records more than 30 years old to be retained by the Security Service under section 3(4) of the 1958 Act if they are required for administrative purposes or ought to be retained for any other special reason. In the case of Security Service records, the special reason may be that the records in question contain highly sensitive information relating to national security.