How to look for records of... Records of the Hutton Inquiry

1. Why use this guide?

This guide sets out the context for records of the of the Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly CMG chaired by Lord Hutton (known as the Hutton Inquiry) that are held by The National Archives.

The inquiry was set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly on 18 July 2004. This included the events prior to the death of Dr Kelly, if and how they contributed to his state of mind and ultimately influenced the actions he took leading up to his death. Based on the evidence of witnesses, a detailed account of relevant facts was collated in order to highlight the motives of the individuals who made decisions and acted in ways which impacted on Dr Kelly.

The focus for this guide is the records of the inquiry that have been transferred to The National Archives having been selected in line with The National Archives’ Acquisition and Disposition policies in line with the Public Records Act 1958. Access to the content of the records is managed in line with current information rights legislation.

2. Where to go for further support, if you have been affected by the content of these records/and or the event

Records from the Hutton Inquiry include content that some people may find distressing. If you have been affected by these records, you can find useful advice on looking after your mental health and wellbeing on the NHS Every Mind Matters website and from the mental health charity Mind.

3. The Inquiry

The inquiry was announced by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for the Department for Constitutional Affairs, The Right Honourable Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 18 July 2003 and the Terms of Reference for the inquiry were set on behalf of the government of the day by The Right Honourable Lord Falconer of Thoroton.

The terms of reference were to urgently investigate the circumstances surrounding the death, which Lord Hutton agreed would involve a detailed and careful examination of the relevant facts and that the procedures of the inquiry would be fair to those who gave evidence. The terms of references can also be found in the UK Government Web Archive at The National Archives: Archived Hutton Inquiry Web Site – Terms of Reference

The Right Honourable Lord Hutton was asked to chair the inquiry and approached it in two stages; the first stage consisted of calling witnesses to give evidence in chronological order as to the sequence of events insofar as that was possible and the second stage was to ask for certain persons to come back for further examination by counsel. The first stage of the Hutton Inquiry commenced on 11 August 2003 and concluded on 4 September 2003. The second stage commenced on 15 September 2003 and concluded on 25 September 2003. Further evidence was heard on 13 October 2003 for any witness who had been ill during the second stage of hearings.

The Hutton Inquiry paused the Oxfordshire Coroner’s inquest and there were terms of reference agreed between Thames Valley Police and the inquiry.

The inquiry formally opened on Friday 1 August 2003 and the final report was published on Wednesday 28 January 2004. The government response to the final report of the Hutton Inquiry was published on Wednesday 4 February 2004 (Hansard): [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Hutton Inquiry – Report by Lord Hutton

Before the official publication of the inquiry’s report, a British newspaper published some purported extracts from the conclusions of the report. This led to Lord Hutton investigating which person had advance access to the report. The source of the leaked extracts was not identified. Lord Hutton reported this to the Public Administration Select Committee on 13 May 2004.

4. What are these records?

The records of the Hutton Inquiry, as public records, have been through the process of appraisal, selection, and sensitivity review before being transferred to The National Archives for permanent preservation in line with the Public Records Act 1958.

Evidence was received throughout the lifetime of the inquiry and contributed to the inquiry report. All documents received as evidence by the Inquiry were disclosed to core participants. Evidence that was referred to in the inquiry hearings or referenced in the Inquiry report or published on the inquiry website was selected for permanent preservation and has been transferred to The National Archives.

Some of the evidence predates the establishment of the Hutton Inquiry itself. Most evidence is in paper format, except for some photographs, letters, and one audio recording. The evidence was given unique reference numbers by the inquiry. For example, each contributor, bundle and document page has a reference

The contents of the Inquiry website have been captured in the UK Government Web Archive. [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Hutton Inquiry Web Site – Evidence

In addition to those already published on the inquiry website, certain administrative records of the Hutton Inquiry have also been selected for permanent preservation and transferred to The National Archives. These include the Official Solicitor papers, in RJ 4, correspondence in RJ 2 and Legal Counsel papers in RJ 5.

5. Supporting sensitivity and transparency

As part of preparing the records for transfer to The National Archives, the records of the Hutton Inquiry have undergone a comprehensive review of the content of each record to ensure they are managed in line with information rights legislation.

All decisions to ‘close’ information, either in whole or in part (i.e. through withholding an item entirely, or through applying redactions) have been made in line with the exemptions set out in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Exemptions). ‘Closed’ information may include things like an individual’s personal data, as defined by data protection legislation, or material which might endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual if it were to be disclosed. Closed information may also include law enforcement and information provided in confidence.

Where information has been withheld this will be for a defined period of time and records will be reassessed at the end of this period to determine whether the closed or redacted content can be opened to the public. Where records have been closed, this is indicated at record level in our online catalogue.

Where the inquiry has cited the name of an individual in the description field in The National Archives’ online catalogue the name may be used and is searchable in our online catalogue descriptions. This reflects the way that personal data was managed by the inquiry and reflects the handling of names on the inquiry website.

Because of the potentially distressing nature of some of these records, we have added an advisory note to the relevant online series descriptions and at the level of individual records/pieces.

6. How to access records held at The National Archives

The records of the Hutton Inquiry can be accessed using The National Archives’ online catalogue. The Hutton Inquiry is a hybrid series made up of a mixture of both original paper and digital records. The digital records of the inquiry (unless closed to public access) are available online.

The National Archives’ online catalogue will indicate the format of the record. If you need further help using our catalogue, please consult Discovery help.

Hutton Inquiry records are catalogued within the following series:

RJ 1 Evidence: Contains evidence considered by the inquiry. Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 2 Correspondence: Contains the correspondence of the Inquiry. Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 3 Media Coverage: Contains records of media coverage. Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 4 Official Solicitor’s working papers and Correspondence: Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 5 Counsel’s working papers: Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 6 Lord Hutton’s annotated copies of the evidence: Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

RJ 7 Hutton Inquiry Website: Contains the archived website of the Inquiry. Search or browse descriptions in our catalogue.

7. The inquiry report

The Hutton Inquiry report was published on 28 January 2004 and can be found in the UK Government Web Archive at The National Archives. [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Hutton Inquiry – Report by Lord Hutton

8. UK Government Web Archive resources

The UK Government Web Archive at The National Archives holds the following resources for the Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly (Hutton Inquiry).

The archived website of the Hutton Inquiry: [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Hutton Inquiry Web Site

9. Other sources

Material may also be found in other archives. A directory of UK archive services is available on The National Archives’ website: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/find-an-archive