Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the minutes of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Devolution for Scotland, Wales and the Regions from 1997 and 1998 will be made public.

The Cabinet Office takes its responsibilities for transparency very seriously, and is releasing more historic records, more frequently than ever before. The Government is now halfway through the transition from a 30-year rule for the release of historic records to a 20-year rule. The schedule for the transition is set out in secondary legislation, namely the Freedom of Information (Definition of Historical Records) (Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2012. Under this order, records created in 1997 and 1998, including the minutes of Cabinet Committees and Sub-Committees, will be eligible for release in 2020.