Request
I would like data relating to all the documents reclosed or placed access under review for the period between 1st January and 30th April 2024. This data should include the file reference, the file title, the original opening date, the date the document was reclosed or placed AUR, the origin of the reclosure request, the exemptions applied to justify reclosure, and whether the document was fully reclosed or if there was a redacted release. I would ask that this information be provided in spreadsheet format compatible with MS Excel.
Outcome
Some information provided.
Response
I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to your request.
Please see this .csv file containing a list of files reclosed by The National Archives from the 1st of January 2024 to the 30th of April 2024. In this instance, we have interpreted your request for files that were approved for reclosure by our Reclosure Panel during this period.
Please note that we were unable to provide you with information detailing when a record was placed Access Under Review (AUR). This is because our systems do not store this information. Accordingly, we have not included this information within our response. It should be noted however, that The National Archives’ intention when placing a record “Access Under Review” is always that this should be a temporary restriction, whilst a review is undertaken.
Likewise, we were unable to provide information detailing the ‘original opening dates’ for some of the files placed access under review or reclosed during the requested time frame. This is because this information is not stored on our systems either. For your reference, we have marked instances of this as ‘N/A’ in our response.
You will note from the ‘Origin of Reclosure Request’ column that a member of The National Archives staff may flag sensitivities in a record, and that the record may then be temporarily removed from public access until it is reviewed. Reasons for this may vary, but are typically linked to members of staff who are handling an FOI request where, because of changed circumstances, previously available information is now considered to be subject to an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, or where the material is found to be sensitive personal information about someone who is still alive and continued public access may be unlawful or unfair to them under data protection legislation.
Should a record, or part of a record, be subsequently closed by The National Archives’ Reclosure Panel, this does not affect the statutory rights of members of the public to request access to a closed record by making a request under the FOI Act or the EIR. Requests will be treated on their merits and a further assessment of whether the information can be returned to the public domain will be undertaken.