Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what targets have been set for the release of The Law Officers' Departments' material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in The Law Officers' Departments are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.

The Attorney General’s Office and the HM Crown Prosecution Service do not have any internal targets for the release of material to the National Archives (TNA) beyond the normal annual transfer. Neither office has anyone working full time on the transfer of material to TNA.

The Serious Fraud Office, which was formed in 1988, is currently undertaking an extensive review of all aspects of data and record retention and disposal, including transfer of material to the TNA under the 20 year rule. A number of staff are engaged in this work but it is not possible to separate staff resources involved in reviewing records for transfer from the overall staff resources involved in the review.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has an internal target to transfer approximately 80 criminal case files per calendar year to the TNA. To date the CPS has transferred cases up to 1977.

To meet the transitional timetable for moving from the 30 to 20 year rule, the CPS has outsourced the work required to prepare cases for permanent preservation for the years 1978 to 1984. 1978 cases will be ready for transfer to TNA by January, 2015. For 1979 to 1984 cases, applications for closure will be put before the next Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council meeting in February, 2015.

The CPS has two full time case reviewers.

In 2013 the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) transferred 10 records to The TNA under the 20 year rule. TSol will meet the targets set to transfer records to TNA this year. An outstanding backlog of 300 files identified prior to the introduction of the 20 year rule was also transferred to TNA during 2013.

There are currently two staff in TSol engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.