5. Confirming transfer of 2003 Cabinet records

  1. The Review met with all relevant, available current and former PM&C officials to confirm all 2003 Cabinet records had now been transferred from PM&C to the NAA. The Reviewer also physically inspected the relevant areas within PM&C that hold Cabinet records.

December 2023

  1. Following a media query on 18 December 2023, a review of Cabinet records was conducted at PM&C. The responding Assistant Secretary within Cabinet Division did not hold a security clearance to access the records independently so was escorted to the physical location to check whether any 2003 Cabinet records remained at PM&C.
  2. During Cabinet Division’s check, a number of 2003 archive boxes containing Cabinet records were identified.
  3. On 21 December 2023, intelligence agencies attended PM&C to review the archive boxes to ensure there were no non-Cabinet intelligence materials amongst the Cabinet records. No documents were removed.
  4. On 30 December 2023, 77 records were prepared and listed for transfer to the NAA:
    1. each record was opened and reviewed by an appropriately cleared staff member; and  
    2. only documents that aligned to the 1988 Schedule were retained.
  5. On 31 December 2023, the records were securely transferred by safehand to the NAA.

Additional Cabinet records

  1. The Review’s physical inspection on 4 January 2023 uncovered four additional 2003 Cabinet records that had not been transferred to the NAA in 2020. On 5 January 2024, Cabinet Division confirmed that one of the 78 Cabinet records, that was meant be included as part of the 31 December 2023 transfer, had not been placed on the relevant transfer list. These five records were delivered to the NAA on 5 January 2024. We are satisfied that all 2003 Cabinet records have now been transferred to the NAA as required under the Archives Act.
  2. The Review’s discovery of the additional Cabinet records highlighted the complexities arising from relevant PM&C officials not holding the requisite security clearances to enable staff to perform their duties with confidence and assurance, and of the difficulties arising from the fact that Cabinet Division does not have a proper system for recording the location of all Cabinet documents.
  3. The four additional Cabinet records were located in a sealed envelope, inside a class C container, within a special security room inside a restricted area of PM&C. The Review was reliant on appropriately security cleared staff to access the physical location, none of which were immediately present. Following access, the room itself contained several cabinets which no one person within Cabinet Division had access. The material within the room holding Cabinet records was poorly itemised, tailor-made for a mistake in a future transfer process from PM&C to the NAA.
  4. The fifth additional record was found by Cabinet Division in a secure safe where it seems to have been held for a review by a historian for the Official Histories project. The record was bundled with records from other years.
  5. During the course of the Review, Cabinet Division also located 30 Cabinet notebooks that had not been transferred to the NAA. The notebooks were classified from Personal-in-Confidence to Top Secret. One notebook was from 1978. The others were from a mix of years up to 1992, again highlighting the need for PM&C to have a clear central register of the location of all Cabinet records in its possession. The Review was advised that the Cabinet Division will transfer the notebooks to the NAA in the week commencing 29 January 2024.

Iraq war records

  1. NSC records at the Protected level and relating to the Iraq war were transferred to the NAA in 2020, but NSC records at the Secret and above level were not transferred.
  2. On 9 January 2024, the Reviewer personally inspected all 77 Cabinet records at the NAA that were transferred from PM&C on 31 December 2023.
  3. Of these 77 records, 13 records (containing 38 NSC minutes) related to the Iraq war, either in part or in full. The remaining 64 records were unrelated to the Iraq war.26
  4. The Reviewer also personally inspected the five additional Cabinet records found on 4 and 5 January 2024. One record related, in part, to the Iraq war.

Footnotes

  1. Cabinet records can hold a single, or multiple Cabinet minutes.↩