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Room 1.01<br />
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE<br />
3-5 Great Scotland Yard, London SWl A 2HW<br />
Is-<br />
Tele:<br />
(Direct dial)<br />
(Switchboard)<br />
(Fax)<br />
Dr D Clarke<br />
. ....--· .·.·<br />
Your Reference<br />
Our Reference<br />
DR/3/7 /8<br />
Date<br />
31 july 2000<br />
Defence Intelligence Staff: Registered Files<br />
Thank you for your letter dated 21 July 2000 concerning the status of records - DEF£ 31 I 19, and<br />
64, DEF£ 44/1 and DEFE 21 - selected for preservation at the Public Record Office that are<br />
retained in department in accordance with Section 3(4) of the Public Records Acts, 1958, and<br />
your wish for these records to be released.<br />
I .<br />
As you may be aware all government departments are required to review their records in<br />
accordance with the terms ofthe Public Records Act, 1958 and 1967. Records selected for<br />
permament preservation are transferred into the custody of the Public Record Office (or some<br />
other suitable institution) where they generally become available to the public after 30 years ie<br />
the "30-year rule". Records not selected for permament preservation are destroyed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> very few records that are too sensitive for release at the normal 30-year point may be closed<br />
by either being retained in department (Section 3(4) of the Act)) or by being placed on extended<br />
closure for a period between 40 and 90 years (Section 5(1 )). Retained records are closed under<br />
the authority of the Lord Chancellor, but are subject to a rereview at least once every 10 years<br />
until release into the public domain is possible. Records closed under the extended closure<br />
arrangement are transferred to the PRO for release at the future designated date. <strong>The</strong> status of<br />
whole files either retained or subject to extended closure is noted on the PRO catalogue. Where<br />
pages from files are subject to a similar process a "dummy" or a photocopy of the redacted<br />
pages are appropriately endorsed.<br />
However, the White Paper on Open Government, Cm 2290, published july 1993 set out a number<br />
of initiatives that, subject to resources, would see the rel~ase of records hither to closed for<br />
more that 30 years. For example, greater use of the extraction and redaction techniques
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