§ Harry CohenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will arrange for the release of all official documents relating to Mr. Terence MacSwiney, former Lord Mayor of Cork; and if she will make a statement. [13539]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonRecords relating to Terence MacSwiney have been transferred to the Public Record Office by the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and the Judge Advocate General's Office. Those that were closed under the guidelines that obtained before the 'Open Government' White paper 1993 (Cm 2290) will now be reviewed by the transferring departments under current guidelines. This is in accordance with standard practice, which is to undertake re-review of specific historical records on request.
Researchers who require access to closed records held by the PRO or to historical records still held by departments should write to the Departmental Record Officer of the department that created the records (or its successor) quoting the PRO reference where this is known. Requests for review of access restrictions are handled in the order in which they are received, regardless of the source of the inquiry or its subject matter. The only exception to this is where the information is urgently required for legal purposes.