Written question asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Wednesday, 11 November 2009.

Government: 30-year Rule

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to give effect to the recommendations of the review of the 30-year rule; and, if so, how.

Answer: The Government welcomed the 30-year rule review team's findings, and the Prime Minister announced in his speech on constitutional reform of 10 June that there would be a reduction of the rule to 20 years and consideration of enhanced protections for certain categories of information. The review team made a number of other recommendations in its report, and the Government are preparing a detailed response to these, which will be published in due course. Any change to the 30-year rule will require primary legislation.

Secondary information