18.This effectively replaces the largely discretionary provision for access to public records under the Public Records Act 1958 with a new statutory regime; provides for the access to be enhanced in respect of information contained in records more than thirty years old by disapplying a number of the exemptions in Part II; regulates the relationship between the Lord Chancellor (or appropriate Minister in Northern Ireland) and public authorities in relation to certain information contained in historical records, and makes further provision in relation to decisions relating to certain transferred public records.
The Act Part VI: Historical records and records in Public Record Office or Public Record Office of Northern Ireland