Conservatives demand investigation into alleged record shredding
The Conservatives are demanding that the Information Commissioner investigates reports of the shredding of official government documents.
They believe that with Whitehall gearing up for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act there has been an acceleration in the destruction of files.
The Freedom of Information Act comes into force on January 1st. The Act will allow any member of the public to enquire what information public authorities, including government departments hold on an issue, and request the release of that information. There will, however, be certain exceptions, for example on national security grounds.
But Shadow Cabinet Minister Dr Julian Lewis believes that there has been an acceleration in the destruction of official files – based on figures he has received in Parliamentary answers.
Speaking today, Dr Lewis said: “The steep rise in the shredding going on in some departments is extremely worrying. It is typical of Mr Blair’s shameless Government to have trumpeted a piece of legislation as opening up the workings of government to the people, when we can see that in reality they intend to conceal it so thoroughly that even future historians won’t be able to work out what happened. This is not an opening up of government, but a destruction of the historical record.”
He added: “Usually the passage of time will at least show what a previous Government has been up to – but if Labour have their way, even that will no longer be possible.”
According to figures released to parliament, at the Department of Work and Pensions there were 15,524 files destroyed in 1999-2000, but this had jumped to 36,885 by 2003-04.
At the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 31,002 files were destroyed in 2000, rising to a peak of 57,796 in 2003, before falling again to 44,313 in 2004.
One of the most dramatic differences is at the Department for Trade and Industry, where in 1999 52,605 files were destroyed. This number stood in the 64,000-74,000 range for the next three years, before leaping to 97,020 in 2003/04.
Files are often destroyed for perfectly legitimate reasons of record management, such as when they form no useful part of either ongoing operations nor have any historical interest. All government departments insist they are operating within the rules.
Responding to the Conservatives’ call, Friends of the Earth said they were concerned about the possibility of records being lost.
Right to know campaigner Phil Michaels, said: “The new Right to Know laws require a fundamental change in the mindset of mandarins and ministers alike. The culture of secrecy and shredding has to stop if we are to see the benefit of these new laws. Good records management is laudable. But the large increase in the volume of shredding on the eve of the new laws coming into force raises very serious questions about the intentions of those departments and the approach that they will take to requests for information in the new year. Time and effort should be spent on paving the way for releasing information, not on destroying records.”
