Government secrets to be published after 20 years

Fri 26 Feb 2010

The government has revised information law to ensure that state documents are released after 20 years.

Official papers had until now only been made public after 30 years.

Justice minister Michael Wills has welcomed the move, as he believes it will help make the government more accountable.

He said changing the rules in this way would also increase transparency and help to reinforce public trust in the government's decision-making.

Mr Wills added that the new system would strengthen British democracy while still protecting the "essential constitutional relationships that underpin our system of governance".

The Campaign for Freedom of Information has also welcomed the decision to reduce the 30-year limit.

Director Maurice Frankel said a 20-year delay would mean old records are more likely to be released while the events to which they refer are still remembered.

The changes will be implemented over a ten-year period after the amendment comes into effect.

This will allow for approximately two million paper documents to be transferred to the National Archives.

Richard Tinham, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, commented: "It will be interesting to see what information the transition to a 20-year release period will reveal and, perhaps more importantly, whether it causes a significant increase, at least in the short term, in the number of freedom of information requests received by public bodies."