The phrase 30 year rule is commonly used to describe the point at which records created by government departments are transferred to The National Archives, and at which most of these records are released to the public. In fact there is no single rule, but two rules that work together: the Public Records Act, which requires government departments to transfer records to The National Archives by the time they are 30 years old; and, the Freedom of Information Act, which requires most records to be released to the public by the time they are 30 years old. The Freedom of Information Act states that records should be released unless a specific exemption applies. Exemptions (for example, formulation of government policy) fall away after certain periods of time, mostly at 30 years. Therefore, many records that can be kept closed while they are under 30 years old have to be opened when they reach the point of 30 years after creation. Most records transferred to The National Archives are either already open, or are opened at 30 years. Some government documents are now opened to the public at an early stage, particularly because of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which came into force in 2005 and allows citizens to request that government information be released. The emergence of departments’ websites has also contributed to an expectation of open government. The Prime Minister has decided that it is now time to re-think whether 30 years is the right period for government documents as a whole to be kept closed. The review team consider how to balance openness and security within government, and examine the impact of the Freedom of Information Act. The main recommendation of the review is to replace the 30 year rule with a 15 year rule, in regard of both the transfer of public records to The National Archives and other places of deposit, and allowing access to them. This change should be effected by amending both the Public Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
