Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether classified documents retained by his Department under a Lord Chancellor’s Instruction citing a national security exemption are among the files available to be searched when his Department receives a Freedom of Information request which may include personal data held within it.

All classified documents that have been retained by the Ministry of Defence under the national security exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 2018 are available to be searched on receipt of Data Subject Access Requests, Freedom of Information Requests and questions to the Secretary of State or other Ministers in the Department.

If, after location and review of the classified documents, it is deemed that release of any/all of the information would still prejudice national security, then it may continue to be withheld by law.