Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has he made of the potential impact on the Haddon-Cave enquiry of 97 million new documents.

We remain fully committed to supporting the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan and assisting it in getting to the truth.

These records were identified as part of the significant work the Department has undertaken to identify, review and disclose material relevant to the Inquiry. As people will understand, this remains a substantial and ongoing task due to the passage of time, the complexity of legacy systems and the nature of records created during two decades of operations in Afghanistan.

These records were identified through ongoing work to migrate and make historical material searchable within the department’s Digital Archive Service (DAS). As additional records became available through that process, the department informed the Inquiry and has continued to work closely with it to assess any material potentially relevant to its investigation.

Although 97 million records fall within the period covered by the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference, they originate from across Defence over many years and the overwhelming majority are not expected to be relevant to the Inquiry. Work is underway to identify relevant material. In a public hearing on 25 September, the MOD told the Inquiry that it estimated that 1200 documents may be relevant, and that this number could be managed without impacting the Inquiry’s timetable.

Significant resources are already dedicated to supporting the Inquiry’s work, including reviewing and disclosing relevant material. The department will continue to provide the support necessary to meet its obligations to the Inquiry.