Question
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they or their predecessors have authorised the public disclosure of Cabinet papers by way of exception to the 30-year rule; and, if so, in what circumstances. [HL1719]
Papers of meetings of the Cabinet and its committees are held by the Cabinet Office until they are ready for transfer to the National Archives under the 30-year rule, except in a very small number of cases where approval to withhold sensitive information for longer is given by the Lord Chancellor on the advice of his Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations require public authorities to consider on a case-by-case basis all requests for information, and to release requested information unless an exemption or exception applies. The Government believe that there is a very strong public interest in upholding the convention of the collective responsibility of the Cabinet and maintaining the confidentiality of its proceedings.
Under information rights legislation the Government have released some Cabinet and Cabinet Committee correspondence, and papers of Cabinet Committee meetings. In addition, two extracts from the minutes of Cabinet discussions following the devastating landslide in Aberfan on 21 October 1966 were released early at the National Archives on 2 January 1997 as the Government considered it would be in the public interest that all records relating to Aberfan should be released into the public domain together. The extracts in question would normally have been released in 1998 and 1999 respectively. Where appropriate, Cabinet papers have been disclosed to inquiries.