Apologies for cross-posting.
Thank you to everyone who replied to my request for information on retention
of Social Services staff leaver files. There seems to be no definitive
answer, so all comments were much appreciated.
To summarise, the question opened out into personnel file retention more
generally. One respondent commented that their local authority keeps Social
Services staff files for 50 years after departure, if they have dealt with
children and Fire Service staff files for 25 years (in case of industrial
injury claims). Another respondent pointed out that their local authority
applies an extended retention to ALL Social Services staff files, whether
staff have worked with children or not, to cover offenders who may work
their way between posts. At another local authority, all staff files are
kept for 20 years after departure, or for 40 years if staff have worked with
asbestos. Another retention period was 75 years after date of birth for all
staff files.
Peter Emmerson's comment that 'retention is a matter of prudence and risk
management rather than statute or regulation' seemed very apposite in the
light of these different replies.
Thank you again
Debbie
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