Cabinet Office Intelligence Community

Main navigation

Intelligence Records

The records of the security and intelligence Agencies are protected by a 'blanket' exemption, in accordance with Section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958 [External website], from the legal obligation to transfer public records to The National Archives (TNA). Similarly, information held by or relating to the Agencies is exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 [External website]. However, many intelligence-related records are already in the public domain.

• GCHQ has transferred to TNA virtually all its records up to the end of the Second World War, amounting to many hundreds of thousands of papers. Those few still withheld from this period are re-reviewed regularly.
• The Security Service is committed to preserving for posterity its records of historical interest, and follows a policy of voluntarily declassifying and releasing as much material of historical interest as it can, compatible with the demands of national security, responsibility to individuals concerned and resources available. In practice, the Service follows a programme of releasing records in excess of 50 years old. An official centenary history of the Service is currently being written, for publication in 2009.
• SIS records are not released into the public domain, in line with the organisation's commitment never to reveal the identities of individuals or organisations co-operating with it. SIS does, however, make available information that does not breach the vital principles of confidentiality of sources and operational methods, including reviewing and transferring to TNA the records of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and SIS records found on the files of other departments. An official history of SIS will be published in 2010.
• Defence Intelligence Staff records are subject to the same regime as other Ministry of Defence (MOD) records and are reviewed for release to TNA after 30 years.
• Joint Intelligence Committee records are reviewed for release to TNA after 30 years together with other Cabinet Office records.

In 2004 an interdepartmental Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence Records was established under Cabinet Office chairmanship with representatives from the intelligence Agencies, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, MoD, Home Office and TNA. It also includes representatives of the academic community: Professor Christopher Andrew of the University of Cambridge and Professor Peter Hennessy of the University of London.

The purpose of the Group, as set out in its terms of reference, is 'To facilitate scholarly development and use, by historians and other researchers, of security and intelligence records that are already available, and to facilitate and identify other security and intelligence records which might be made publicly available'.

See the Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence Records[External website] page for more information on the group and its activities.

You can find intelligence-related records via the National Archives Catalogue[External website]. The principal series codes are:

• GCHQ - HW
• Security Service - KV
• Ministry of Defence - DEFE
• Cabinet Office - CAB
• National Archives SOE - HS

[return to top]