To ask the Scottish Executive what decision has been taken in relation to the release of the report about Thomas Hamilton by DS Paul Hughes to the Procurator Fiscal at Stirling in 1991.
Following the shooting of 16 schoolchildren and their teacher, and the suicide of Thomas Hamilton, on 13 March 1996 at Dunblane Primary School, the then Secretary of State for Scotland established an Inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. The inquiry was chaired by Lord Cullen and the remit was to inquire into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the events at Dunblane Primary School on Wednesday 13 March 1996 and to consider the issues arising therefrom. The inquiry sat for 26 days, between 29 May and 10 July 1996 and the whole proceedings were held in public and recorded by shorthand writers. The report of the inquiry and the transcript of the evidence are available on the internet at:
www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/duncntnt.htm and
www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/justice/dunblane/dunblane-00.asp respectively.In the course of the inquiry a large number of documents were lodged with the clerk to the inquiry and copies of all productions were given to those represented at the inquiry, including those representing the parents of the dead and injured. All of these productions were available for reference in the course of the inquiry and any issue arising from those documents could have been raised during the proceedings. In January 1997 there was a meeting between the clerk to the inquiry, and representatives of the Scottish Record Office and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Following that meeting it was agreed that copies of all the productions in the inquiry should be lodged with the Scottish Record Office (now the National Archives of Scotland). It was also agreed that there should be a closure period of 100 years, because many of the productions referred to people who were children at the time. It was further agreed that these productions could be accessed with the consent of the Crown by those showing a legitimate interest. Lord Cullen was consulted and indicated that he was content with what had been agreed.There is no statutory basis for the closure of records created by Scottish public bodies. The Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937 (the 1937 act) makes provision for the preservation, care and custody of the public records of Scotland. The terms of the legislation are permissive. By contrast, in England and Wales the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended by the Public Records Act 1967) sets a statutory "closure period" of 30 years after which records must, with limited exceptions, be made available to the public. The 1937 act does not impose similar obligations on Executive departments, but in practice those procedures are followed in Scotland.The criteria for closures longer than 30 years were defined in the 1993
White Paper on Open Government (CMD2290), in accordance with which it is for the department responsible for depositing the material to decide on the closure period. In Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland cannot vary this closure period and cannot produce "closed records" to the public without the permission of the depositing department. The white paper sets out a clear statement of principle as to what information should be made available and what ought properly to be kept confidential in the public interest. Documents containing information about individuals, whose disclosure would cause either substantial distress, or endangerment from a third party to persons affected by disclosure or their descendants can be subject to a variable closure period of between 40 and 100 years. When the productions for the inquiry were lodged with the Scottish Record Office no effort was made to distinguish between productions making references to children and other productions because of the sheer volume of the material.In light of recent public concern expressed about the 100-year closure period, all police reports submitted to the procurator fiscal in relation to Thomas Hamilton have been reviewed. I have considered whether or not it would be appropriate at this stage to make such reports available for public inspection. Given the sensitive nature of much of the material, which might cause anguish to those involved, my prime concern in considering this request has been to ensure that the privacy of those children referred to in the report should be maintained. I am also conscious of the need to abide by the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998.In the exceptional circumstances of this case I have decided that the public interest would be best served by making arrangements to have the reports dated 30 August 1988, September 1991, 3 July 1992 and 9 June 1993, and associated witness statements, made available in a form which removes personal data and ensures that there is no prospect of any of the children or witnesses being identified.Accordingly, photocopies with such information redacted will be placed in the released record, while the originals remain closed to be reviewed and released at a later date. Arrangements will be made to lodge these at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh where members of the public can gain access to them in the normal manner.The internal memo dated 11 November 1991 from DS Hughes to his superior officers requesting that consideration be given to withdrawing Thomas Hamilton's firearms certificate as a precautionary measure was read out by then Superintendent Joseph Holden of Central Scotland Police on day seven of the inquiry and can be found at pages 862 and 863 of the transcript. Superintendent Holden also read out the comments noted on the memo by superior officers.None of these reports contain allegations against politicians or other prominent figures.Disclosure of reports of this nature is not to be interpreted as undermining the presumption, supported by the Scottish courts, that police reports are confidential. That presumption is necessary to ensure that witnesses or those under investigation are not inhibited or deterred from co-operating in criminal investigations by the possibility that information provided might be disclosed and their identities revealed to the public outwith the protection of the court. At this time unrestricted access to the productions cannot be allowed because of the sheer volume of the material and the fact that much of it refers to children. I have decided in the light of recent interest that the material should be catalogued by staff at the National Archives of Scotland in a way which does not lead to the identification of children. When a full catalogue is available, I will consider further the extended closure of the papers and whether other material which does not identify children or whose release would not be contrary to the data protection legislation can be made available, or whether it would be appropriate to vary, in any particular case, the closure period.
