Chamber and committees

It has recently come to lightthat, due to an administrative oversight, a file of statements that was availableto all parties to the Dunblane Inquiry, is not currently included within the documentsheld at the National Archives of Scotland. Extensive enquiries have been made todetermine how this happened. It appears that at some point between the transmissionof the files from the Inquiry Office to the National Archives of Scotland at theend of the Inquiry, and the cataloguing of the files at the National Archives ofScotland, the file was either inadvertently not included or mislaid. The file wastherefore not part of the papers which were passed to the Crown Office in 2003 when consideration wasbeing given to making inquiry documents available to the public and was not madeavailable to the public in October 2005.

As soon as this error becameknown Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service officials took immediate stepsto begin to redact the statements that could be disclosed. Both the original fileand the redacted copy will be lodged at the National Archives of Scotland and willbe available for inspection by members of the public from20 April 2006.

Theevidence contained in these witness statements does not add substantively to theevidence in those statements already disclosed. The majority of the statements arefrom medical staff, including ambulance personnel, GPs and hospital doctors. Thecontent of these particular statements is so detailed that it could cause considerabledistress to the next of kin of the bereaved and injured. These statements are thereforeconsidered to be unsuitable for disclosure in their entirety and will be placedwith the other documents in respect of which I have already explained that the ClosureOrder of 100 years will remain.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Colin Boyd QC: It has recently come tolight that, due to an administrative oversight, a file of statements that wasavailable to all parties to the Dunblane Inquiry is not currently includedwithin the documents held at the National Archives of Scotland.  Extensiveenquiries have been made to determine how this happened.  It appears thatat some point between the transmission of the files from the Inquiry Office tothe National Archives of Scotland at the end of the Inquiry, and thecataloguing of the files at the National Archives of Scotland, the file waseither inadvertently not included or mislaid.   The file wastherefore not part of the papers which were passed to the Crown Office in 2003 whenconsideration was being given to making inquiry documents available to thepublic and was not made available to thepublic in October 2005.

 As soon as this errorbecame known Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service officials tookimmediate steps to begin to redact the statements,which could be disclosed.  Both theoriginal file and the redacted copy were lodged at the National Archives ofScotland.  The redacted copy was made available for inspection by members of the public on Thursday 20 April 2006.  

The evidence contained inthese witness statements does not add substantively to the evidence in those statementsalready disclosed.  There are also statements from medical staff, including ambulance personnel, GPs and hospitaldoctors.  The content of these particular statements is so detailed thatit could cause considerable distress to the next of kin of the bereaved andinjured.  These statements are therefore considered to be unsuitable fordisclosure in their entirety and will be placed with the other documents inrespect of which I have already explained that the Closure Order of 100 yearswill remain.