Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by The Earl of Minto on 4 March (HL2591), why it is not possible for the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston to facilitate the delivery of the 150 nuclear test veteran documents to a secure ministerial office within the Ministry of Defence for review by the Minister for Defence People and Families.

The Minister for Defence People and Families (Dr Andrew Murrison) will visit the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) shortly to personally review the information and consider its release into the public domain. Given the volume of documents to be reviewed it was considered more practical for the Minister to visit AWE.

There are no restrictions on Ministers accessing these records with the Minister for Defence People and Families the most appropriate given his responsibility for veteran’s affairs. The documents had a variety of security classifications and are now declassified.