A - FThe Public Record Office maintains a Website listing new releases of government documents at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/default.htm.
The seventh (July 2001) release of Security Service (MI5) documents consisted of approximately 200 files. An overview of these files is located at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/july2001/secser1.htm.
The eighth (212 files) MI5 release took place on 7-8 May 2002. For the first time, the personal files includes SOE agents. There are some miscellaneous personal files which include documents on Sidney Reilly, and a substantial number of files on Dusko Popov, TRICYCLE in the Double-Cross system. An overview of these files is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/may2002-mi5/list.htm.
The ninth (311 files) MI5 release took place on 25-26 November 2002. The bulk of the records released are "personal files relating to individuals..., with a small number of subject files ... and policy files." An overview of these files is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/nov2002_mi5/intro.htm.
The tenth (203 files) MI5 release was on 22 May 2003. The "majority of files are from 1939-45 but there are a considerable number from the inter- and post- war periods.... Some personal files are being released relating to the early Cold War period. Of these, the most notable is that relating to the atom spy Klaus Fuchs ... covering the period 1938-53." An overview of these files is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/may2003_mi5/list.htm.
The eleventh (198 files) MI5 release came on 12 November 2003, bringing the total number of MI5 files in the public domain to 1,844. An overview of these files is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/nov2003_mi5/list.htm.
The twelfth (280 files) MI5 release came on 21 May 2004, bringing the total number of MI5 files in the public domain to just over 2,100. The release includes materials on "the Rote Drei Soviet spy network, including the files on the only British member of the spy ring, Alexander Foote." An overview of the files is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/releases/may2004_mi5/default.htm.
The first release of MI5 records since the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in January 2005 came on 1 March 2005. Although the National Archives' "Introduction" to this release terms it "the twelfth and largest ever release of Security Service records," it appears to be the thirteenth such release. This release "contains 357 files, bringing the total number of [MI5] records in the public domain to nearly 2,500." An overview of the files is available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2005/highlights_march/march1/intro.htm.
The "sixth release of Security Service records since the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in January 2005" took place on 4 September 2007. This release "contains 186 files, bringing the total number of [MI5] records in the public domain to nearly 3,700." Included in this release are files dealing with MI5 liaison with the FBI. An overview of the files is available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2007/september/introduction.htm.
The "seventh release of Security Service records since the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in January 2005" took place on 4 March 2008. It "contains 137 files, bringing the total number of [MI5] records in the public domain to nearly 4,000.... [N]early three-quarters of the records are personal files relating to individuals..., with a small number of subject files..., policy files..., organisation files... and a single list file.... The majority of files are from 1939-45 but there are a considerable number from the inter- and post- war periods, dealing with a range of groups and subjects, including: German agents and intelligence officers; British Communists and suspected Communists, Soviet intelligence agents and officers; Soviet defectors; right-wing extremists; and others." Access to additional details is available at http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page603.html.
The UK's D-Notice System (Now DA-Notice System), managed by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee, has a Website at http://www.dnotice.org.uk/.
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