HC Deb 30 April 2004 vol 420 c1321W
Mr. Kaufman

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will name all hon. Members who, since 1 August 2003, have been sent a standard departmental reply concerning the 1911 Census returns in which the Department has advised them that the period of closure in Great Britain is normally 100 years; and if he will list the decennial population Census for(a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and >(c) the whole of Ireland which have been released after less than 100 years of closure to public inspection. [167310]

Mr. Lammy

Between 1 August 2003 and 31 March 2004 the following hon. Members have received letters explaining why the 1911 Census returns for England and Wales are subject to a closure period of 100 yearsAndrew Smith, John Baron, Ann Winterton, Andrew MacKay, Judy Mallaber, Paul Burstow, Claire Ward, Nick Hawkins, Kevin Barron, Steven Webb, Andrew Tyrie, Sandra Gidley, Gerald Kaufman, Andrew Rosindell, Joe Benton, Nick Harvey, Mark Oaten, Helen Jackson, Robert Jackson, Andrew Murrison, John Grogan, David Borrow, David Taylor, Doug Naysmith, Roger Williams, Richard Ottaway, Alan Howarth, Philip Sawford, Vernon Coaker, Tim Yeo, Patricia Hewitt, Stephen Pound, Michael Mates, Michael Portillo, Jeff Ennis, Robert Key, Michael Wills, Siobhain McDonagh, Nick Gibb, Martin Caton, Ian Taylor, James Arbuthnot, Norman Lamb, Candy Atherton, Nicholas Winterton, John Hutton, Kenneth Clarke, Tim Loughton, Linda Gilroy, Hilary Benn, Michael Foster, David Drew, George Young, Paul Truswell, John Randall, Ian Stewart, Teddy Taylor, Wayne David, Ashok Kumar, Richard Burden, Andrew Turner, Mike O'Brien, Andrew Miller, Hazel Blears, John Horam, Edward Leigh, David Blunkett, Gwyneth Dunwoody, David Lidington, William Cash, Jim Cunningham, Robert Ainsworth, Shona McIsaac, John Taylor, David Winnick, Michael Wills, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Gregory Campbell, Martin Salter, Andrew Hunter, and Paul Clark.

  1. (a) The censuses for 1841 and 1851 in England and Wales, which contained less detailed information than 20th century censuses, were opened to public inspection in 1912. The 1861 to 1901 censuses were all released after 100 years.
  2. (b)> The opening of census returns in Scotland is a matter for the General Register Office for Scotland, an associated Department of the Scottish Executive. However, I can refer the right hon. Member to the answer of 24 February 2004, Official Report, column 347W which my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Constitutional Affairs with responsibility for Scotland gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland on this subject.
  3. (c) The returns for the all-Ireland censuses conducted in 1901 and 1911 can be consulted at the National Archives in Dublin, in accordance with decisions taken by the Government of the Republic of Ireland.