Intelligence Records
The records of the security and intelligence Agencies are protected by a
'blanket' exemption, in accordance with Section 3(4) of the Public Records Act
1958[External website], from the legal obligation to
transfer public records to The National Archives (TNA). Similarly,
information held by or relating to the Agencies is exempt from the
provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000[External website]. However, many
intelligence-related records are already in the public domain.
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GCHQ has
transferred to TNA
virtually all its records up to the end of the Second World War,
amounting to many hundreds of thousands of papers. Those few still
withheld from this period are re-reviewed regularly.
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The Security Service
is committed to preserving for posterity its records of historical
interest, and follows a policy of voluntarily declassifying and releasing
as much material of historical interest as it can, compatible with the
demands of national security, responsibility to individuals concerned and
resources available. In practice, the Service follows a programme of
releasing records in excess of 50 years old. An official centenary
history of the Service is currently being written, for publication in
2009.
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SIS records are
not released into the public domain, in line with the organisation's
commitment never to reveal the identities of individuals or organisations
co-operating with it. SIS does, however, make available information that
does not breach the vital principles of confidentiality of sources and
operational methods, including reviewing and transferring to TNA the records of the Special
Operations Executive (SOE), and SIS records found on the files of other
departments. An official history of SIS will be published in 2010.
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Defence Intelligence Staff records are subject to the same regime as
other Ministry of Defence (MOD) records and are reviewed for release to
TNA after 30 years.
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Joint Intelligence Committee records are reviewed for release to
TNA after 30 years
together with other Cabinet Office records.
In 2004 an interdepartmental Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence
Records was established under Cabinet Office chairmanship with
representatives from the intelligence Agencies, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, MoD, Home Office
and TNA. It also includes representatives of the academic community:
Professor Christopher Andrew of the University of Cambridge and Professor
Peter Hennessy of the University of London.
The purpose of the Group, as set out in its terms of reference, is 'To
facilitate scholarly development and use, by historians and other
researchers, of security and intelligence records that are already
available, and to facilitate and identify other security and intelligence
records which might be made publicly available'.
See the Advisory
Group on Security and Intelligence Records[External
website] page for more information on the group and its activities.
You can find intelligence-related records via the National
Archives Catalogue[External website]. The principal
series codes are:
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GCHQ - HW
-
Security Service - KV
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Ministry of Defence - DEFE
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Cabinet Office - CAB
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National Archives SOE - HS
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