What statutory authority the Secretary of State for Scotland had in 1974 to state that Scottish decennial population census returns would n…

The statement made by the Secretary of State to Parliament on 23 May 1974 rested on administrative decisions, underpinned by the undertakings given by the Registrar General to respondents to successive censuses. There was no specific statutory authority for the policy of opening Scottish decennial census returns to the public 100 years after the census to which they relate, nor indeed for opening Scottish census returns to the public at any date. The current statutory authority for the 100 year exemption from access for census returns relating to individuals lies in sections 38(1)(c) and 58(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.