Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what statutory duties the Keeper of Public Records has in respect of facilities for inspecting and obtaining copies of records in the Public Record Office; how many applications the Keeper has received since May 1997 from members of the public to inspect and copy the decennial census returns for England and Wales for(a) 1901 and (b) 1911; and how she responded to those applications. [96457]
§ Mr. LockThe statutory duties of the Keeper of Public Records in respect of facilities for inspecting and obtaining copies of records in the Public Record Office are laid down in section 5 of the Public Records Act, 1958, as amended. Subsection 3 of that section provides that, subject to certain exceptions,
it shall be the duty of the Keeper of Public Records to arrange that reasonable facilities are available to the public for inspecting and obtaining copies of public records in the Public Record Office.The Public Record Office does not keep a record of applications from members of the public to inspect and copy the decennial census returns for England and Wales for 1901 and 1911. Such applications are referred to the Office for National Statistics, which has custody of the 1901 and 1911 census returns.