Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an official in his Department informed any employee or official of Southampton University prior to 5 August 2011 that it would be unlawful for that university to give public access to any of (a) the private diaries of Lord or Lady Mountbatten and (b) their letters to each other.

As the hon. Member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in previous answers, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.