Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date, and at whose instruction, were the documents relating to the Chinook ZD576 sealed for 100-years.

Extracts DEFE 71/1616/1 and DEFE 25/1073/3 were closed to the public on 18 November 2019 and 9 November 2020. The decision was taken following a sensitivity review undertaken by specialist Ministry of Defence (MOD) Records Review officials acting on behalf of the MOD Departmental Records Officer who, in compliance with the Public Records Act 1958, are responsible for reviewing MOD records prior to transfer to The National Archives (TNA). The closure was also approved by the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (ACNRA).

For personal information and information linked to identifiable living individuals, TNA and the ACNRA advocate a closure period of the ‘lifetime’ of the data subject. This assumes a lifetime of 100 years but will be graduated down from the age or assumed age of the youngest individual in the record.