Retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663

Request

1. All information held concerning the retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 and which department they are retained by. My understanding is that the PRO series contains “Domestic Records of the Public Record Office [now The National Archives]” and that these are therefore likely to be retained by The National Archives.
   1. If parts of the above requested information are exempt under the FOIA, please apply redactions and explain the exemptions applied.
2. All information from the statutory instrument detailing the retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663. My understanding is that such a retention is made under Section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958 (“the PRA”) and that any such retention “for administrative purposes or… for any other special reason” must be approved by the Secretary of State.
   1. Details from the catalogue refer to the former terminology ‘Lord Chancellor’s Instrument’ and states that the instrument is “LCI 156” and was signed on 20th June 2024. I understand that PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 have been retained in the department “on security or other specified grounds.” If parts of the above requested information are exempt under the FOIA, please apply redactions and explain the exemptions applied.

Outcome

Some information provided.

Response

1. All information held concerning the retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 and which department they are retained by.
   1. Both PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 have been retained by The National Archives.
   2. A PDF of all information held concerning the retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 is available upon request. Please contact RMDclosedrecordsrequests@nationalarchives.gov.uk to request a copy. Some of this information has been redacted under section 40(2) of the FOI Act. For more information about why this exemption applies, please see the annex at the end of this response.
2. All information from the statutory instrument detailing the retention of PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663.
   1. A PDF of the retention instrument for PRO 85/2662 and PRO 85/2663 is available upon request. Please contact RMDclosedrecordsrequests@nationalarchives.gov.uk to request a copy.

Annexe

Exemptions applied

Section 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data subject

Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the terms of Data Protection Legislation.

Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice that releasing it would cause them damage or distress.

Personal information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner as set out by Art. 5 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains information which would identify junior members of staff.

Publishing the names and contact details of junior members of staff is considered an unfair use of personal data. Junior members of staff would have no expectation that information about their positions would be made available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act.

As such, the names, positions and contact details of junior officials are withheld under section 40(2) of the FOI Act.

Further guidance about the publication of junior staff names can be found here:
Requests for personal data about public authority employees