Public Records (Hansard, 16 May 2000)

§ Mr. Lock

The full Advisory Council considered the subject of access to the 1911 census returns on one occasion since January 1998 namely, on 22 October 1998.

The Master of the Rolls, as Chairman of the Advisory Council on Public Records, has received 15 letters from hon. Members since January 1998 concerning access to the 1911 census returns.

The answer sent to hon. Members by the Secretary to the Advisory Council on Public Records, at the request of the Master of the Rolls, is annexed.

On 3 April 2000 the Secretary consulted all members of the Council by post, asking them whether they wished the subject to be put on the agenda for the next meeting of the Council in June. Members approved the line taken in the responses to hon. Members and none requested that the subject be considered again by the full Council

116WAccess to Census Records from 1901 and 1911 The Master of the Rolls has asked me to thank you for your letter of ^****, and to reply on his behalf. He has seen and approved the contents of this letter. I think that your constituent has been briefed by Mr. Denis McCready, who has for some years been campaigning about access to the census records. Mr. McCready himself appealed to the Council on this issue, and the Council considered his appeal on 22 October 1998. I shall set out below the background, then explain the Council's position. The Public Records Act 1958, as amended by the Public Records Act 1967, specifies the normal term for the closure of public records, and the procedure for changing that period, as follows: Public records in the Public Record Office…shall not be available for public inspection until the expiration of the period of thirty years beginning with the first day of January in the year next after that in which they were created, or of such other period, either longer or shorter, as the Lord Chancellor may, with the approval, or at the request, of the Minister or other person, if any, who appears to him to be primarily concerned, for the time being prescribe as respects any particular class of public records. (c5(1)) It is thus the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor and (in the case of the Office for National Statistics, for census records) the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to decide whether and for what period the normal thirty year term will be varied. The Lord Chancellor always seeks the advice of the Council before making such a decision. Neither the Master of the Rolls (as the Council's chairman) nor the Keeper of the Public Records has any authority in the matter, so neither has the power unilaterally to release closed records. In a Schedule to an Instrument signed by Lord Gardiner, the Lord Chancellor, on 20 June 1966 all decennial census returns were closed for 100 years. I enclose a copy of the Schedule. Mr. McCready has suggested that this schedule is invalid because it does not specify the "class" of records, as required by s5(1) of the Act. Mr. McCready is using the term "class" in its technical sense in the Public Record Office where it has until recently meant a particular series of records identified by letters and a number (such as AIR 21 on the same schedule). However, as you know, the interpretation of an Act of Parliament depends on definitions contained within the Act (there is none for "class" in the Public Records Act), the Interpretation Act, or normal dictionaries. The word "class" in the Act should thus be understood to have its normal meaning of a category, such as (in this instance) "Decennial Census Returns". Mr. McCready has also pointed out that no undertaking of closure for 100 years was given to individuals when the 1901 and 1911 censuses were taken, and suggested that this means that there could be no breach of confidence by releasing them after a shorter period. The Home Secretary on 26 October 1998 in a Written Answer to a Parliamentary Question gave the terms of the undertakings of confidentiality stated on the 1901, 1911 and later census schedules (Hansard cols 55–6). That on the 1901 schedule reads: The Return is required for carrying out the provisions of the Census Act. The contents of the Schedules will be treated as confidential; they will be published in General Abstract only. and strict care will be taken that the Returns are not used for the gratification of curiosity, or for other purposes than those of the Census. Those for 1911 read, on the front and on the back of the schedule: The contents of the Schedule will be treated as strictly confidential. The contents of the Schedule will be treated as confidential. Strict care will be taken that no information is disclosed with regard to individual persons. The returns are not to be used…for any other purpose than the preparation of Statistical Tables. 117W In 1981, the Government for the first time spelt out on the census schedules the period that it considered would need to pass before the duty of confidence owed as a result of such undertakings would be discharged: Your replies will be treated in strict confidence. After the census, the forms will be locked away for 100 years before they are passed to the Public Record Office. In answer to Parliamentary Questions the Government has reiterated that it considers that 100 years is the period which should pass before the duty of confidence is discharged. In a written answer to Lord Teviot in the House of Lords on 14 October 1997, the Lord Chancellor said that: the maintenance of public confidence in the census is paramount. It would be unwise to amend retrospectively the period of closure as the credibility of assurances about recent and future censuses would be affected if the Government is seen to be departing from previous assurances.

Schedule
Number of class	Description	Person whose approval has been given	Prescribed period Years
War Office
W.0. 71	Judge Advocate General's Office—Courts Martial: Proceedings	Secretary of State for Defence	100
W.0. 160	War of 1914–18: Special Series	Secretary of State for Defence	100
Air Ministry
Air 18	Judge Advocate General's Office—Courts Martial: Proceedings	Secretary of State for Defence	100
Air 21	Judge Advocate General's Office—Courts Martial: Registers	Secretary of State for Defence	100
Registrar General
R.G.	Decennial Census Returns	Registrar General	100